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ACTUAL GOVERNMENT 
IN ILLINOIS 



ACTUAL GOVERNMENT 
IN ILLINOIS 



BY 

MARY LOUISE CHILDS 

Teacher of History and Civics, Evanston 
Township High School 






NEW YORK 

THE CENTURY CO. 

1914 






Copyright, 1914, by 
The Century Co. 



FEB -9 1914 

©CI.A361901 



TO 
THE GIRLS AND BOYS 

OF MY CIVICS CLASSES WHOSE INTEREST 

AND LOYALTY HAVE BEEN THE 

INSPIRATION OF THEIR 

TEACHER 



FOREWORD FOR THE TEACHER 

How may a civics teacher make vital the study of State 
and local government in Illinois? What are the essential 
facts with which the immature pupil should be familiar at 
the end of the course? What method of instruction will 
most quickly arouse his interest and give him the best train- 
ing in citizenship? An earnest attempt has been made in 
this brief text book to suggest an answer, in part, to these 
important questions. 

The first indispensable requisites are enthusiasm and 
active interest in the subject on the part of the teacher. A 
bored, indifferent teacher can never kindle interest or en- 
thusiasm in the minds of high-school pupils of civics, or 
guide them into the broad, far-reaching fields of citizenship. 
The essential facts of government, particularly State and 
local, are dry as sawdust unless vitalized by a live teacher 
through connecting them at every step with the actual 
government in the community in which the pupils live. 

Among the necessary devices to arouse interest and catch 
the attention is the bulletin board. Try a large one covered 
with dark green felt and hang it in a conspicuous place. If 
your pupils have access to Chicagp dailies, they will be 
keenly interested in illustrating their note-books from the 
cartoons. A very interesting, instructive commentary on 
local and State government can be made by these cartoons. 
Pupils soon learn to select wisely, avoid the vulgar or simply 



FOREWORD FOR THE TEACHER 

grotesque, and choose the most effective ones. Try an 
8xio notebook, loose leaf, with manila sheets added to 
the note paper for the cartoons and newspaper clippings. 
If you " shingle " the cartoons — slip one under the other, 
and paste along upper edge only — five or more can be put 
on one page of the manila sheet. 

A " camera squad " to conduct a camera tour through 
the pupils' ward or village arouses much interest. Their 
kodaks of alleys and back yards, garbage cans, paper- and 
refuse-littered streets and parkways, the city " dump " or. 
the crematory, should be mounted and hung in the civics 
room where all may share the results of the " camera tour." 
Have them show praiseworthy conditions as well as things 
to criticize. 

The newspaper clippings should always have noted on 
them name of paper, date, and an underscore in red ink or 
blue pencil to show why the item was cut out. This under- 
score saves much written explanation and is helpful in 
training a pupil's judgment of the essential thing in a news- 
paper article. 

Official stationery and all kinds of official seals serve a 
useful purpose. A letter from some official makes that 
officer seem a real human being instead of a noun in a text- 
book, and to make this vital, human connection between 
text-book and actual government is the most essential part 
of our work. Every report, annual message, budget, 
ordinance, legal paper, that can be secured — and their name 
is legion — is grist for the civics mill. 

But the human element, the meeting with officials, hear- 



FOREWORD FOR THE TEACHER 

ing them explain the duties of their office, the visits to in- 
stitutions and buildings where they actually see the govern- 
mental wheels in motion — these are the things that seem 
to make the deepest impression on a pupil's mind. You may 
secure this vivid human illustration in several ways : by 
excursions of all the class (but if the class is large, all 
can not hear and see equally well, although they enjoy 
the trips in large numbers) ; by small groups under a pupil 
leader who makes the arrangements for the party and 
is responsible for the group, each pupil to make an oral or 
written report of the trip in his own section. This method 
brings good results in studying your own town and saves 
the time of officials — sometimes the latter get a bit im- 
patient if the individual pupils go to them, but they are 
glad to give some time to a group. Another method is to 
bring the official, as the mayor or health commissioner, to 
the class for a talk on their duties. If a stereopticon can be 
used and slides shown in illustration of the talk, so much 
the better. 

The following excursions were given during one year 
for the civics class in a suburb of Chicago: A session of 
the Chicago council and of their own council ; to the county 
and Federal buildings and the city hall in Chicago; to the 
county infirmary at Oak Forest ; to Lockport via the Drain- 
age Canal in the boat owned by the sanitary district and 
courteously loaned the class for that day; to the State 
prison at Joliet; for the boys alone, to the House of Cor- 
rection; for the girls alone, to Hull House and the Crane 
Nursery to show how a famous social settlement is helping 



FOREWORD FOR THE TEACHER 

to make good citizens of aliens; a carefully chosen session 
of the United States district court, the docket for that day- 
being planned six weeks in advance through the kindness 
of Judge Landis so the pupils might see a trial by jury; 
a trip to the Naval Training School at Lake Bluff and to 
Fort Sheridan. These excursions include the illustrative 
work for local, State, and National Government. They 
mean much work for the teacher, and every detail must be 
carefully planned if they are successful. But they are of 
great value in making vivid and practical the civics work 
and are well worth all they cost in time and effort. De- 
bates and reports on suitable articles in current magazines 
will of course find a place in the work. 

One main object has been, kept constantly in mind in 
writing this text book: First and always to direct the 
pupil to the actual government in his own locality. The 
theory embodied in the statute and ordinance is one thing; 
the practical working out of the law is frequently quite a 
different matter ; but the practical method by which the law 
is enforced — or not — is the vital matter to every citizen 
and the side of government too often neglected in our civics 
teaching. There is no subject taught in the high-school 
course where mere routine, text-book recitation, is so 
deadly as in civics. Therefore every effort has been made 
to make practical and vital the teaching of actual govern- 
ment within the State of Illinois. 

The writer is greatly indebted to many officials for per- 
sonal interviews, letters, and reports. Every courtesy has 
been extended to her in the work by officials in all depart- 



FOREWORD FOR THE TEACHER 

ments of the State and local governments. Special ac- 
knowledgment is made to the officers and director of the 
Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency for permission to use 
their exceedingly valuable charts and reports. Mrs. 
Catharine Waugh McCulloch very kindly read part of the 
manuscript and gave the writer the benefit of helpful sug- 
gestions and criticisms. 

No doubt many errors will be discovered, due to the 
short time allowed in preparation and the pressure of 
school-room duties. Much is purposely omitted that 
usually finds place in a civics text book. But the purpose 
of the book as expressed in its title has been ever in mind. 
It is not intended in any sense for a manual, and only 
points a way, tested for many years in large classes of 
pupils in a suburban high school, to arouse keen interest 
in the vital matters of home government. 

A Russian Jew said to the writer recently, " You are a 
patriot because you teach of the government!" If all of 
us to whom are given the honor of guiding these junior 
citizens of Illinois in their first steps in citizenship could 
always be mindful of that fact, would not our work be 
ennobled immeasurably? On our faithful, intelligent ef- 
forts will depend in large degree the progress Illinois will 
make in wise, humane, efficient government. We can so 
vitalize and clothe with flesh the dry bones of civic facts 
that our pupils will count their study of State and local 
government the most human, intensely alive subject in all 
the high-school curriculum. Is not the end worth all the 
effort? 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Cities and Villages 3 

II Government. of Chicago 16 

III Towns and Townships in Illinois .... 54 

IV County Government in Illinois ..... 65 
V The Public Pocketbook: How It Is Filled . 88 

VI Elections and the Ballot . 99 

VII Judicial Trials and the Jury System . . .113 

VIII State of Illinois: Physiography and History 126 

IX The General Assembly -138 

X Executive 151 

XI State Judiciary 159 

XII Public Education in Illinois 165 

XIII The Merit System in Illinois 175 

XIV State Charity Service 188 

XV Amendment of the Illinois Constitution . . 198 

XVI Illinois Moving Forward 201 

Appendix A — Reference List of Books and Pam- 
phlets Valuable for Study of " Actual Govern- 
ment in Illinois " 215 

Appendix B — Valuable Publications of Civic Or- 
ganizations in Chicago . . 217 

Index 219 



ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 



ACTUAL GOVERNMENT 
IN ILLINOIS 

CHAPTER I 

CITIES AND VILLAGES 

References : 

i. Revised Statutes (1912), ch. xxiv. 

(This general law for cities and villages covers 229 pages in 
the Revised Statutes of Illinois, not including the Session 
Laws for 1913.) 

2. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 101-106. 

3. Garner: Government in the United States, pp. 25-56; Govern- 

ment of Illinois, pp. 39-43. 

The city corporate touches the life of the people more 
intimately than any governing body in the world. To 
speak of just one factor in its varied relations with the peo- 
ple, notice its streets, the " arteries through which flow the 
life-blood of the city — trade and traffic." " Here persons 
of all ages and all tastes go to meet one another, to talk 
over the affairs of the day, to be entertained, to eat, to 
drink, to inspect shop windows, to do marketing, to buy 
and sell merchandise, and to perform a thousand offices 
which the needs of the city life make profitable, healthful, 
or agreeable." " Then consider the influence of the streets 
on the habits of the people. In the congested areas of the 
city, the people must spend a large portion of their leisure 

3 



4 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

on the streets, because their homes are too small for com- 
fort, and if the city allows the streets in these sections to 
remain unkempt and dirty, the homes bordering them will 
reflect the dirt and grime of the city highway, inevitably 
much more, should that ' highway ' be an unpaved alley." 
(Beard: American City Government, pp. 242-244.) And 
the city streets represent only one small segment of the 
great circle of the city powers surrounding city homes. 

Are you familiar with the poster, " Madame, Who Keeps 
Your House ? " issued by the Woman's City Club of Chi- 
cago, 116 South Michigan Avenue? If not, make its ac- 
quaintance, for this famous poster has nearly circled the 
globe since it was published a year ago to illustrate pic- 
torially the intimate relation existing between the city hall 
and the home. " The poster contains a large ' C ' made up 
of fifteen pictures illustrating the city departments that 
touch the home ; in the center are the words, ' City Hall/ 
surrounded by a small ' c ' made up of the names of the 
city departments illustrated. Below are these words : ' The 
homely activities of your daily life make necessary these 
departments in the government of the city in which you live. 
Its interest in you is personal and kindly. Make your in- 
terest in it vital and helpful. Educate yourself in civic 
affairs/ " Know your own city ! 

What is the organization in Illinois of this city govern- 
ment that affects the daily life of its citizens so powerfully? 

Cities. There are over one thousand cities and vil- 
lages in Illinois. The present State constitution of 1870 
forbids special legislation of any kind except for Chicago 
in a few definite cases, provided by recent amendment to the 
constitution. Therefore, in 1872, the General Assembly 
passed a law known as the Cities and Villages Act, for the 



CITIES AND VILLAGES 5 

government of municipalities in the State, if they chose to 
come under its provisions. Only about seventy-five cities, 
towns, and villages preferred to retain their original special 
charters granted by the Legislature before 1870. The rest 
by vote have adopted the Cities and Villages Act, and it has 
therefore become their charter. This general law covers 
about two hundred forty pages in the Revised Statutes of 
Illinois and carefully details what a city may do, and pro- 
vides the general framework of city government. 

Much ingenuity has been displayed by the legislators in 
framing laws needed for a city like Chicago and a county 
like Cook yet not wanted in other cities and counties of 
Illinois. The favorite device is to put cities and counties 
into classes according to population and so arrange the 
groups that Chicago and Cook County will each come into 
a class by itself. " For cities having over 350,000 popu- 
lation " (only Chicago), or " counties having over 125,000 
population " (only Cook), is frequently the wording of some 
law intended to apply to Chicago and Cook County alone. 
So far the supreme court has generally sustained such laws 
on the ground of necessity, although they plainly violate the 
spirit of the State constitution while obeying the letter. 

Organization of a City. Any territory in Illinois not 
less than four square miles in area, having at least one 
thousand inhabitants, may petition the county judge (pro- 
bate judge if the county has one) for a special election to 
vote on a city organization. 

City Officers. If carried, the people elect a mayor, 
aldermen, clerk, treasurer, city attorney, and police magis- 
trate. The wards into which the city is divided must num- 
ber not less than three or more than thirty-five, depending 
on population, and two aldermen are chosen from each 



6 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

ward, one each year. The term of office is two years ex- 
cept that of the police magistrate, who is elected for four 
years. The aldermen are paid three dollars per session 
except in Chicago. 

There are ninety-eight powers granted the council in the 
Cities and Villages Act, so its power is ample to do what- 
ever is necessary for the city. The mayor and other offi- 
cers have the same powers given under Chicago. 1 The 
mayor, with the consent of the council, may appoint a city 
collector, to have charge of special assessments, special 
taxes for local improvements levied on property benefited, 
as for paving a street or putting in a sewer; a commissioner 
of public works to care for streets, alleys, sewers, water 
system, garbage collection, city buildings; corporation 
counsel to be legal adviser of the city officials; comptroller 
to have general oversight of all city accounts and expendi- 
tures; chief of police, health commissioner, fire marshal, 
whose names explain their work. If the city so orders 
through a special vote, a civil service commission of three 
members is also appointed by the mayor with the consent of 
the council to conduct the examinations required for all city 
employees, like policemen and firemen, who are placed in the 
classified service. Any of these appointed officers may be 
elected if the council pass an ordinance to that effect. All 
the officers allowed for governing a city in Illinois are 
named in the General Municipal Act of the State. 

Commission Plan of City Government. By a law 
in effect in 19 10, cities not over 200,000 in population may, 
through a special election, adopt the commission plan of 
government, electing a mayor and four commissioners at 
large to have charge of the city. This act is applicable to 
1 Chap, ii, pp. 20-22. 



CITIES AND VILLAGES 7 

all the cities in the State except Chicago, and about twenty- 
five have adopted it, Springfield, Rock Island, Elgin, De- 
catur, Cairo, and Waukegan, among the number. The five 
commissioners elected serve for four years and are called 
the council. The commissioner known as the mayor pre- 
sides at all their meetings and has charge of the department 
of public affairs. There are five departments created by 
the law: (1) Public Affairs, (2) Accounts and Finances, 
(3) Public Health and Safety, (4) Streets and Public Im- 
provements, (5) Public Property. 

The five commissioners determine by majority vote what 
duties shall be vested in each department and which com- 
missioner shall be its head. The mayor does not have the 
veto power. The council appoints all city officers needed; 
civil service is provided for all employees. To prevent abuse 
of power by the commissioners, they may be recalled at any 
time by a majority vote at a special election. The initia- 
tive and referendum are also provided to allow the voters 
directly to initiate and pass any necessary law. All fran- 
chises granted public service companies must be approved 
by the people before going into effect. Provision is made 
to discontinue the commission government if the voters are 
dissatisfied after trying the plan. 

The Chant aiiquan Magazine (Vol. LI) has an excellent 
symposium on " Commission Government for Cities." In 
the Debaters' Handbooks is a volume devoted to commis- 
sion government. 

City Manager. The most recent innovation in city 
government is the city manager, an appointed officer who 
looks after the city's business exactly as a general manager 
directs the affairs of a private concern. River Forest in 
Cook County is experimenting with this new kind of city 



8 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

official and thus far is much pleased with results. It is 
claimed he has more than saved his year's salary already 
through careful supervision of the city's work. The ex- 
periment is being watched with great interest and seems full 
of promise for more efficient city government. 

Director of Public Safety. Another experiment in 
municipal government is director of public safety, who has 
charge of the three principal municipal departments, health, 
fire, and police. Evanston is experimenting w T ith such an 
official (September 1913), and he is working for fire pre- 
vention, better sanitary conditions through a clean-up cam- 
paign, classifying bakeries according to cleanliness, and 
making every policeman a health officer, so there can be 
stricter enforcement of all sanitary regulations. This com- 
bining the great public safety departments of a city is an- 
other step toward simpler municipal government because 
the chief of police, health commissioner, and fire marshal 
are put under civil-service rules, and the city gets one re- 
sponsible officer instead of three. 

City Courts. (Rev. Stat., ch. xxxvii, sec. 240-263. 
Act amended 1909.) Any city having a population not 
less than three thousand may establish a special city court 
if the voters so elect. The jurisdiction of this city court 
will be the same as the State circuit court. There can be 
from one to five judges according to population, and the 
salary is paid from the State treasury. The term is four 
years and the judge must not be chosen at the same time 
with other city officers. Why? Nineteen cities in Illinois 
have adopted this city court. The justices of the peace 
are retained for petty cases in cities having a special city 
court ; but there is no police magistrate. 

Village Government. (Rev. Stat. (191 2), chap, xxiv, 



CITIES AND VILLAGES 9 

sec. 178-193.) A village government differs from a city 
in being more simple and therefore less expensive. It has 
no wards. Any area, not less than two square miles, con- 
taining at least three hundred inhabitants, if it is not already 
within a village or city, may be incorporated as a village by 
vote of the people at a special election and must there- 
after remain a village until it has a thousand inhabitants, 
when it has the privilege, if the voters desire, of changing 
to a city government. There are now (1913) about eight 
hundred villages in Illinois. 

I. Legislative Branch of the Village Government. 2 Board of 

Trustees — a president and six trustees elected for two years 
with power of a mayor and council in passing the village ordi- 
nances. 

II. Executive and Administrative Officers. 

1. President — elected for two years; has same veto power 

as a mayor. 

2. Village clerk — elected for one year. 

3. Treasurer, street commissioner, board of health, village 

marshal, and other administrative officers appointed by 
the president and board of trustees. 

III. Judicial Branch. 

Police magistrate — one only unless more are authorized by 
special acts. No police magistrate can also act as justice of 
the peace, although his jurisdiction is the same. 

OUTLINE GOVERNMENT OF A CITY IN ILLINOIS 

I. Organization. 

a. Petition to county (or probate) judge for special election 

to decide question city government. 

b. First election city officers : Mayor, aldermen, clerk, treas- 

urer, attorney, police magistrate. 

2 Greene: Government of Illinois, p. 268. 



io ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

c. " Cities and Villages Act," passed Legislature 1872, becomes 
city's charter. Seal is granted by secretary of state at 
Springfield. 

II. Boundaries; number of wards and precincts. 

III. Time of election. 

IV. Term of office. 

V. Legislative Department. 

A. Council composed of mayor and aldermen. 

1. Duties. 

a. Levy taxes. 

b. Confirm or reject appointments mayor. 

c. Provide police, fire, health protection. 
3. Grant franchises. 

e. Provide for public highways and sidewalks. 

f. Provide for street cleaning, lighting; water sup- 

ply, garbage removal, etc. 

2. Salary. 

VI. Executive Department. 

A. Mayor. Who? When elected? 

1. Duties. 

a. Preside council meetings. 

b. Vote in case of tie. 

c. Sign or veto ordinances : may veto separate items 

in appropriation ordinance, or annual budget. 
Veto overcome by two-thirds vote council. 

d. Send annual message to council. 

e. Appoint officers consent council. 

f. Issue proclamations. 

g. May pardon any violation of ordinance or remit 

any fine imposed for such violation. 

2. Salary. Find from city budget. 

B. Clerk. Who? When elected? 

1. Duties. 

a. Keep minutes council meetings. 

b. Keep seal and all important papers. 



CITIES AND VILLAGES II 

c. Post ordinances and notices. 

d. Issue licenses and permits. 
2. Salary. 

C. Treasurer. Who? When elected? Amount of bond? 

i. Duties. 

a. Charge of all city funds except special assess- 

ments. 

b. Acts as town collector for general taxes. 
2. Salary. 

D. City Collector. Who? When appointed? Amount of 

bond? 

i. Duty. 

a. Receives special assessments or special city taxes 
for some particular improvement, to be paid by 
property benefited; as a street paved or sewer 
put in. Also fees for licenses and permits. 

2. Salary. 

E. Comptroller. Who? When appointed? 

" Watch-dog of the city treasury." 
i. Duties. 

a. Audits all accounts of treasurer. 

b. Furnishes estimates expenses for every depart- 

ment of city government. 
2. Salary. 

F. Commissioner Public Works. Who? When appointed? 

i. Departments under his supervision. 

a. Water works. 

b. Streets and alleys. 

c. Walks and cross walks. 

d. Public parks; playgrounds; parkways. (Some- 

times controlled by an elected park board.) 

e. Public buildings, city hall, library, fire and police 

stations, etc. 

f. Street lighting. 

g. Sewers. 
2. Salary. 



12 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

G. Health Commissioner? Who? When appointed? 
i. Duties. 

a. Inspects water, milk, ice, meat, plumbing. 

b. Attends to quarantine notices. 

c. Is responsible for fumigating houses after con- 

tagious disease. 
2. Salary. 

H. Fire Marshal. Who? When appointed? 
i. Duties. 

a. Charge of firemen, who are often under civil-serv- 

ice rules. 

b. Charge of police force needed in any quarter 

where there is fire. 
2. Any salary? 

I. Chief of Police. Who? When appointed? 

1. Duties. 

a. Keeps the peace and protects all citizens. 

b. General control of policemen, who are often under 

civil service. 

2. Salary. 

J. Library Directors. Nine. How chosen? 
i. Duties. 

a. To manage free public library. 

b. To appoint librarian and assistants. 

c. To purchase all books. 

d. To make rules and regulations for use of library. 
2. No salary. 

K. Civil Service Commission. Three. How chosen? 
i. Duties. 

a. To conduct examinations for policemen, firemen, 

library cadets, clerks, and stenographers em- 
ployed by the city. 

b. To certify standings of those on eligible list to the 

appointing officer. 
2. Any salary? 



CITIES AND VILLAGES 13 

VII. Judicial Department. 

A. Police Magistrate. Who? When elected? 

1. Duties. 

a. To try all violations ordinances. 

b. To examine any case and bind person over to 

grand jury. 

2. Salary. 

B. City Attorney. Who? When elected? 

1. Duties. 

a. Prosecutes and defends lawsuits for the city. 

2. Salary. 

C. Corporation Council. Who? When appointed? 

1. Duties. 

a. Legal adviser for city officers. 

b. Draws up ordinances, if so requested. 

c. Draws contracts, leases, deeds, all legal papers for 

city departments. 

2. Salary. 

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL NEEDED 

1. Copy of Revised Statutes of Illinois, edition 1912 if possible. 

2. Copy city charter if one has been granted. 

3. Copy of city ordinances. 

4. Map of city showing wards and precincts. (Indispensable.) 

5. Maps of separate wards. If these can not be had, make your 
own blue prints from regular map of city. Or use tracing paper 
to get your separate ward maps. On these mark all government 
buildings, as fire and police stations, schoolhouses, library station, 
small parks, and field houses. 

6. Get the statistics from the Health Department and make 
" spot maps " showing where death rate was highest during the 
last year, and why. These ward maps can be used in various ways 
to illustrate municipal and social facts. 

7. City manual for complete list of officials and their terms. 

8. Impression of city seal. 

9. Bulletin board for newspaper clippings and cartoons. Illus- 



14 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

trate every point possible by some recent fact in your city govern- 
ment. Study your local papers to find these illustrations. 

10. Have you a camera ? Form a camera squad and take a 
" camera tour " through your ward and the city. Photos of the 
alleys, parks, waterworks, your city dump, the garbage crema- 
tory, or the reduction plant will be valuable comments on your city 
government. 

PERTINENT QUESTIONS 

1. Compare the organization of your city with the one outlined 
in the text. You should know the name of every elected and ap- 
pointed official in your city. Why? 

2. Make out a list of the services performed by the National, 
State, and municipal governments respectively. Which govern- 
ment touches your daily life most closely ? 

3. Some citizens declare they never vote at a city election ; only 
at the State and National. What is your opinion of such a citi- 
zen ? Give three reasons for your answer. 

4. Bryce says that city government is the " blackest spot " in 
American politics. Why ? 

5. Why should municipal elections be absolutely non-partisan? 
How can they be made non-partisan? 

6. \\ 'hat societies, clubs, and organizations are at work in your 
city to make it a better place to live in ? How can you help them ? 

7. Does your city have a civil-service commission? If so, what 
employees are covered by its examinations ? 

8. Y\ nat public utilities are owned and operated by your city ? 
If none, then what are the terms made by the franchises granted 
the private companies furnishing your gas, water, electric light, 
and street-car service? Do these companies pay the city for the 
privilege of using the streets, which are the property of the peo- 
ple? If not, why? How long do these franchises run? 

9. How does your city dispose of garbage and all kinds of house- 
hold and factory waste? 

10. What kinds of business does your city license? How would 
you secure a license? What would you have to pay for it? 
(Consult the Revised Ordinances.) 



CITIES AND VILLAGES 15 

11. Does your city need a city manager? 

12. What are the advantages in the commission plan of city 
government? What disadvantages? Would it be a good thing 
for your city? Give reasons. 



CHAPTER II 

GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 

References : 

i. The Chart of the Organization of the Government of Chicago, 
prepared by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, p. 25. All 
their charts are of very great value for accuracy. 

2. Chicago City Manual, 1912, pp. 103-154. 

3. Efficiency Charts prepared by Civil Service Commission to show- 

organization of all city departments. 

4. Rev. Stat., 1912, ch. 24. 

5. Winchell: Civic Manual, pp. 7-197. (Its statistics are for 1909.) 

Our Civic Creed. " Chicago does not ask us, her citizens, to die for 
her welfare; she asks us to live for her, and so to live, and so to act, 
that her government may be pure, her officers honest, and every corner 
of her territory shall be a fit place to grow the best men and women 
who shall rule over her." — Adapted from a Wisconsin City. 

" Where ' we will/ there 's a way."— Chicago's new motto. — From 
The Tribune. 

Early History of Chicago. The famous treaty of 
Greenville (1795) made by the United States with the 
western Indians, ceded a tract of land six miles square — 
a congressional township — at the mouth of the Chicago 
river, to the Government. No use was made of this ces- 
sion until the winter of 1803, when Fort Dearborn was 
built at the mouth of the river. A tablet marking the site 
of the fort has been placed on a building at the foot of Rush 
Street bridge. The Chicago Historical Society has a good 
model of the fort. Most of the land once occupied by the 

16 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 17 

old fort is now the bed of the Chicago river. There is 
great difference of opinion over the meaning of the word 
" Chicago/' but none over its Indian origin. It was prob- 
ably derived from the Indian word for the " wild onion " 
that flourished over the prairies and marshes around the 
lake. Consult J. S. Currey's History of Chicago, Vol. I, 

PP. 3 2 -34. 

The first town of Chicago contained less than half a 
square mile. It lay between State, Madison, Desplaines, 
and Kinzie Streets. The present city contains 193 square 
miles and extends over twenty-five miles north and south, 
and from nine to fourteen miles east and west. The city 
has grown to this wide territory through various annexa- 
tions. In addition to this surface expansion, Chicago has 
" partially built itself up out of the marsh and is now about 
fourteen feet higher than the original level." This fact 
has an important bearing on the ever-present drainage prob- 
lem and makes it a little easier to provide an adequate sewer 
system for the city. 

Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833 because the 
United States Government had just removed the last 
Indians from Illinois, thus throwing open the land around 
Chicago freely to white settlers. The birthday of the city 
was March 4, 1837, as its seal testifies. The population 
was 4,170. 

Government of Chicago. Because Chicago is now 
the second largest city in the United States and the fourth 
in the world — only London, New York, and Paris are 
larger — and because it contains more than one-third the 
population of Illinois, every citizen of the State should feel 
pride in this great city and be interested in knowing how it 
is governed. 



18 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

No Special Charter. The constitution of 1870 for- 
bids special legislation of any kind. In consequence, the 
" Cities and Villages Act " was passed by the Illinois Gen- 
eral Assembly, 1872, and all cities organized since that date 
come under the provisions of this general law and do not 
have any separate city charter. 

Chicago voted to accept this municipal corporation act 
in 1875 an d thus gave up its charter after forty years' ex- 
perience with government under various special charters. 

The Council. Chicago's is one of the best examples in 
the United States of a powerful city council. It is a council- 
governed city. This legislative body is made up of seventy 
aldermen, two elected from each of the thirty-five wards. 
The ward bodies are determined by population, and the 
areas differ greatly. About 63,000 people live in a ward 
since the reapportionment of December 4, 191 1. Get a 
map of Chicago, with wards and precincts marked, from the 
Bureau of Maps, in the city hall. Also a separate map 
of your own ward. The term of office of the aldermen will 
be four years beginning in April 1914, if the voters at 
that election accept the law passed by the last Legislature 
increasing the term from two to four years. 

The mayor presides over the council, but has a vote only 
in case of a tie. He has much less power than the council, 
and even the powers he has are limited in several ways by 
that body. If the personal influence of the mayor is great, 
he may be able to persuade enough aldermen to vote for 
ordinances he favors to put them through. But the council 
can control matters if they will. The greater power is 
theirs. The municipal act of 1872, many times amended, 
enumerates ninety-eight powers granted a city council. 

Sessions. The council meets regularly every Monday 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 19 

evening at half-past seven in the council chamber of the city 
hall. The council sessions are open to the public, and every 
citizen ought to attend frequently and notice how the alder- 
men from his ward vote on important ordinances. They 
are paid $3,000 salary and do their work largely through 
standing committees. To listen intelligently at a council- 
meeting one needs to know the regular or routine order of 
business : 

1. Roll call of aldermen by wards. 

2. Reading of the minutes of the last meeting. 

3. Messages from the mayor and reports from heads 
of departments. 

4. Presentation of new business by wards, including in- 
troduction of ordinances. 

5. Reports from committees. 

6. Unfinished business. 

The Committees. On request you can get from the 
city clerk a card containing the names of all the aldermen 
by wards, and all the standing and special committees of 
the council. Every pupil should have one of these cards 
for reference. Also get a copy of the proceedings of 
the latest council meeting. The names of these committees 
tell their work : Finance, charge of the city budget — for 
1913, $66,378,511. All bills against the city must be ap- 
proved by this committee and its chairman is the mayor's 
spokesman on the floor of the council-chamber. He is paid 
$6,000 a year and has to give his entire time to this impor- 
tant work. Committee on local transportation looks after 
matters of street-car service, such as through routing of the 
elevated cars and lengthening the platforms in the loop dis- 
trict; license, judiciary, streets and alleys, building, health, 



20 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

fire, police, harbors and bridges, water, taxes, civil service ; 
gas, oil, and electric light, and elections, complete the list 
of standing committees. There are three special commit- 
tees now on bathing beaches and piers, small parks, and 
compensation. The latter looks after the pay the city 
receives for franchises, permits, and licenses, or special 
privileges of any kind granted a corporation or private 
citizen. As Chicago received over a half million dollars in 
revenue in 191 2 from these sources, the committee's work 
is needed. 

The Budget. The passing of the appropriation ordi- 
nance, or city budget, in January annually, is one of the 
most important acts of the council. The budget is based 
on the estimates of the comptroller after each item has 
been thoroughly considered by the finance committee and 
given their recommendation. The vote of the council on 
the budget must be by roll call. In fact, the passing of 
every ordinance requires a roll-call vote. The council is 
restricted by law to a debt limit of 5 per cent, and a taxation 
limit of 2 per cent, on the assessed valuation of all the tax- 
able property in the city. Any expenditure of money at 
any time also requires the same recorded vote. The dia- 
gram, " Chicago's Pocketbook," shows how the public 
pocketbook is emptied. 

Executive Officers. The Mayor. Chicago elects 
the mayor, seventy aldermen, the city clerk, and treasurer. 
" The mayor is elected by the people, to serve the people " 
for a term of four years. His salary is $18,000 a year. 

His powers. 

A. As chairman of the city council he may approve or 
veto its ordinances (may veto separate items in an appro- 
priation bill and approve the rest). But a two-thirds vote 



Chicago's Focket Book 

WHERE THE TAXES GO. 




THIS SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTION 
OF EVERY DOLLAR OF TAXES 



Prepared by Woman's City Club of Chicago, 1912 



22 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

will defeat a veto and make the ordinance law. Through 
written messages to the council he recommends any meas- 
ures he wishes considered. He is limited to five days in 
considering an ordinance. 

B. He appoints almost all the executive officers of the 
city, although his power is greatly limited by the civil-serv- 
ice law and the consent of the council. His appointing 
power is now limited to about fifty positions, mainly heads 
of departments, exempt from the civil service. Yet his 
patronage, measured by the combined salaries of all the 
officers and employees he appoints and the powerful 
patronage through the street department in hiring men and 
teams for street work, amounts to thousands annually. 
One can easily understand why an ambitious politician 
might covet the mayoralty of Chicago. 

C. He issues and revokes licenses. The exercise of 
this power too often links the mayor's office with the liquor 
interests, and the resorts of the underworld. • 

D. He may pardon any violation of an ordinance and 
remit any fine levied as a punishment. 

E. He has general supervision over all city departments. 

F. He is conservator of the peace and responsible for 
the safety and order of the city through his control of the 
public departments. 

G. He must enforce all ordinances impartially. This 
duty is the best test of an able mayor and a good city gov- 
ernment. 

The mayor appoints the heads of the following principal 
departments: library board of nine directors: board of 
education of twenty-one members; board of three directors 
for the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium (all these serve 
without pay and have the right to levy separate taxes) ; law 7 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 23 

department, including corporation counsel and city attorney ; 
department of finance, including comptroller and city col- 
lector; general superintendent of police and two deputies; 
civil-service commissioners ; fire and health departments ; 
city physician; building commissioner; department of boiler 
inspection; weights and measures; smoke inspection; de- 
partment of supplies under business agent; transportation; 
track elevation; department of public works; of electricity; 
special' park commission and the city forester; board of local 
improvements; board of examining engineers; harbor and 
subway commission; superintendent and three inspectors 
for House of Correction; inspector of oils; bureau of statis- 
tics. To simply read over this list of departments and re- 
member it takes an army of 24,000 men and women em- 
ployees to attend to the city's business gives one a little idea 
of the big problems to be solved in running Chicago's gov- 
ernment. For a thorough knowledge of the organization 
of all these departments, the positions exempt from civil- 
service examinations, those under the classified service, 
number of employees, salaries, and appropriations for 191 3, 
consult the charts prepared by the Efficiency Division of the 
Chicago Civil-Service Commission. These charts are very 
valuable, but too complicated for the average citizen to un- 
derstand. The admirable " Chart of the Organization of 
the City of Chicago," prepared in October 191 3, by the 
Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, 315 Plymouth Court, 
and reproduced on p. 25, gives a clear, definite idea of the 
organization of this great city government. 

The City Clerk, elected for two years, keeps the city 
seal, all minutes of council meetings, lists of licenses and 
permits issued, and franchises granted by the council. He 
is custodian of all city papers, including the ordinances. 



24 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

He is the only city official not required by law to make an 
annual report to the mayor and council. (One solitary re- 
port was made voluntarily, 1908, by the city clerk, but 
the excellent precedent then set has never been followed.) 

More than ninety different licenses are issued by the city 
clerk, varying from permission to sell gasoline, ice, or liquor, 
to the right to collect junk. The fees required for these 
licenses are paid to the city collector, but the license and 
metal tag often required are issued by the clerk. 

The City Treasurer is elected for two years; receives 
$12,000 salary; must give a bond (1913, $2,000,000), de- 
termined by the council. He is responsible for all the city 
funds, including the school taxes — in 191 3 over sixty-six 
million dollars. By act of the Legislature, 191 3, the term 
of the city clerk and the treasurer of Chicago has been in- 
creased to four years if the voters approve at the regular 
April election in 19 14. 

Law Department. It takes a group of more than 
seventy attorneys and an office force of over one hundred 
to control the law business of the city. At their head is the 
Corporation Counsel, who is the chief legal adviser of the 
mayor, the council, and all the city officials. His salary 
is $10,000. The entire legal department is exempt from 
any civil-service examination and the appointments are 
purely political. 

The Business Agent is responsible for buying all sup- 
plies, from office stationery to hay for the city's horses. He 
must give a bond for the faithful performance of his duties. 
Every city officer and employee is put under a bond to guar- 
antee good service. 

Board of Local Improvements has five members ap- 
pointed by the mayor with the consent of the council. It 



THE VOTERS OF THE 
CITYofCHICAGO 



city 

(TREASURER) 
.*I2.000> 



BOARD of 

ELECTION 

COMMISSIONERS® 



Appoin-ted by "the 
County Judge 



Special Park 
Commission 



Inspector 
of Oils 



BOARD of 
EDUCATION 




21 Members 

(No Salary) 



Department of 
Track Elevation 



Board of 
Examining 
Engineers 



Commission 



Bureau of 
Statistics 



o 



Electiv.e Officials 



Departments or Appointive Officials 



Prepared by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, 1913 



Chart of Organization of the government of the City of Chicago 
showing lines of authority and salary rates for elective officials. 



26 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

is their duty to apportion on each piece of property benefited 
the amount of every special assessment ordered by the coun- 
cil for any local improvement, as a sewer, water main, street 
or alley paving. 

Other Executive Officers. The duties of most of 
these executive officers are explained by the name of the 
office, but a few require additional explanation. Comptrol- 
ler is the financial agent for the city and has general over- 
sight of all persons who handle the cash of the city, or 
its deeds, contracts, and leases. He is head of the depart- 
ment of finance, and the elected city treasurer and appointed 
collector are subordinate to him. He is often called " the 
watch-dog of the city treasury." The City Collector re- 
ceives special assessments, licenses, and the wheel tax. The 
Commissioner of Public Works has a great variety of duties 
and is responsible for more bureaus (subdivisions of depart- 
ments) than any other city officer. Streets, alleys, side- 
walks, their paving, repairing, and cleaning; bridges, via- 
ducts, sewers, and the water system ; the engineering bureau ; 
the erection and care of all public buildings belonging to 
the city ; docks, wharves, market places — all these represent 
part of the services rendered by this huge department. It 
takes now a small army of 4,600 persons to do this work, 
and the council appropriated $4,595,373 in 1913 for its 
maintenance. In addition, the commissioner of public 
works is responsible for the expenditure of other millions 
in special public improvements to be constructed, like the 
proposed boulevard linking the North and South Sides by 
a double-deck bridge at Pine Street. The Bureau of Streets 
under the Department of Public Works also has charge of 
the removal of all waste, refuse and snow from the streets 
and alleys. This includes the so-called " pure garbage " or 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 27 

kitchen waste, and its extremely insanitary, extravagant 
disposal on the " dumps " located in the poorer wards of 
the city, where it is a constant menace to life and health. 
Chicago's most imperative need is a modern sanitary sys- 
tem of garbage disposal. 

The House of Correction. The Chicago Bridewell, 
as the house of correction is commonly called, has two thou- 
sand prisoners, most of them serving short sentences, or 
working out fines imposed for violations of the city ordi- 
nances. This large population makes the Bridewell by far 
the largest prison in Illinois, as there are only about 1,400 
convicts at Joliet. The Chicago house of correction has 
a national reputation due to the humane, wise government 
of its superintendent, John L. Whitman, who has been re- 
tained through rival administrations owing to his fine work. 
The inmates of the John Worthy School, an institution for 
delinquent boys, controlled by Chicago, are being removed 
to the State school at St. Charles, where they can have the 
home life of the cottage and farm and much better chance 
for reform than under the walls of the Bridewell and in a 
" jail school." The John Worthy building is to be used 
for a hospital for inebriates under the management of the 
superintendent of the house of correction. 

Municipal Courts of Chicago. The judicial officers of 
Chicago are now thirty-one elected municipal court judges, 
ten of whom are elected in November 19 14. Their term is 
six years. The municipal court was established by act of 
Legislature and referendum vote of the people, 1905, and 
opened December 1906. This court replaces the nineteen 
notorious justices of the peace appointed by the governor. 
By amendment to the Municipal Court Act approved 19 13, 
the term of part of the municipal court judges will be 



28 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

lengthened to allow their election to come in April instead 
of November. This court tries civil and criminal cases 
in Chicago where the amount involved is not over one thou- 
sand dollars. Imprisonment is in the county jail or house 
of correction. The court can not commit to the peniten- 
tiary. Some of the judges are assigned by the chief jus- 
tice to certain specialized courts. Three have been estab- 
lished thus far and work well: The courts of Domestic 
Relations, Morals, and Speeders. There is a chief clerk 
and a chief bailiff elected for six years and the salary for 
each office is $6,000. The chief justice has $10,000 salary 
and each judge, $6,000. 

Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium is an independent 
taxing body, although the three directors are appointed by 
the mayor. They are not required by law to make a report 
and therefore it is not easy to secure accurate information 
of their work. It is done largely through the dispensaries 
maintained in the more congested districts and through the 
nurses employed to visit the homes, search out cases of 
tuberculosis, and get them to the dispensary for treatment 
if possible ;. also to teach the home care necessary for cure 
and to prevent the spread of the " white plague.'' A 
municipal sanitarium with eight hundred beds is under con- 
struction at Bowmanville. 

The three great public safety departments, health, fire, 
police; the work of the board of education and the park 
commissions caring for municipal recreation, all deserve, 
and will receive, special notice. 

Is it wise for Chicago to spend six times as much for pro- 
tection of property as for protection of life? Notice the 
table of relative expenditures for these public safety de- 
partments (p. 34) and think what it means: 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 29 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF CHICAGO 1 

"The public health is the foundation on which repose the happiness 
of the people and the power of a country." — Lord Beaconsfield. 

" For most of us, our health is our wealth." 

" The health department operates under the police power of the 
State." 2 

" The police power is the right of a community to do whatever is re- 
quired to protect its health or morals." — Dr. Evans. 3 

Organization. The health department of Chicago is 
organized under the following bureaus which are directly 
responsible to the health commissioner appointed by the 
mayor : 

1. Bureau of Medical Inspection has two important divisions: 
(A) Contagious Diseases, and (B) Child Hygiene. 4 

A. Division of Contagious Diseases. 

Duties: 

a. To prevent spread of contagion. 

b. To provide school inspection. 

B. Division of Child Hygiene. 

Duties: 

To conduct infant welfare w T ork. Eighty nurses do 
the home and school visiting in this division. 

1 Courtesy Chicago Woman's City Club. 

2 See Forman: Am. Rep., pp. 313-318; and Adv. Civ., pp. 390-396. 

3 See Report Chicago Dep't Health for 1907-08-09-10. 

4 " Little Mothers' Schools " for the practical instruction of young 
girls in the care of the baby are conducted by the Child Hygiene 
division of the health department in over thirty of the public schools. 
Classes are held every week and over a thousand girls from twelve to 
fifteen attend. This is another feature of the Department's campaign 
to save the babies. 

The weekly Bulletin issued by the Chicago Health Department is an- 
other important link in this vital chain of disease prevention. 



3 o ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

2. Laboratory Service. 

Duties : 

a. To give early, sure diagnosis of contagious dis- 

eases through " cultures " taken from throat, 
nose, or blood of a sick person. 

b. Milk and water analysis. 

" Forty per cent, of Chicago's deaths are from 
preventable diseases/' 

3. Bureau of Food Inspection. 

Ditties : 

a. To protect the meat and milk supplies: works 

with laboratory service. 

b. To regulate markets and food supplies. " Death 
lurks in dirty food." 

4. Bureau of Sanitary Inspection. 

About 13,000 buildings are erected annually in Chicago. The 
hundred inspectors have abundance of work to do. 
Duties : 

a. To regulate housing. 

b. To promote cleanliness (see illustration) through 

inspecting plumbing. 

c. To inspect restaurants. 

d. Division of Ventilation, established July 1, 1912, 

looks after ventilation of moving picture thea- 
ters, churches, and public halls. 

" Bad housing promotes failure, stupidity, 
crime, disease, and death." 

5. Bureau of Vital Statistics. 

Duties : 

a. " Points out the path toward greater health for 
all and records our progress in defeating dis- 
ease." 

" Auditors of the books of Life and Death." 



all aboakd/ 01 * 
Clean Chicago « 





Chicago. Chicago Chicago' c^uoih I, 

Wbithcrob whither oh wh»th<zr. 60 6pfy ? 
"To clean ap *bc alley 6 
An& cVto6fcou\ ^he, /iy I 

Then 111 have f<z,w<LK 
£>ma\\ coff\r)5 Vtf "buy." 

CLEAN UP WEEK- MAY 5-I0. 1913 



Chicaqo Health Dcpt Educational Poster H 9 16) 



De5i9ntAby DrGB Young 



32 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

b. Issues burial permits. 

Ought to register birth certificates. 
A moving picture film entitled " An Error of 
Omission/' to illustrate the inconvenience and 
loss that may come to any person who can not 
show a birth certificate, has been prepared and 
exhibited in many of the theaters. It is hoped 
to arouse public interest so that every baby will 
be registered within twenty-four hour? of its 
birth, as is now required by law. 

6. Bureau of Hospitals, Baths, and Lodging House. 

A. Contagious Disease Hospital. 

Bond issue $300,000 voted (1912) to erect new hospital. 

B. Isolation Hospital for smallpox cases. 

C. Free Municipal Lodging House for homeless men. 

D. Seventeen public baths. Three new ones to be built at 

cost of $20,000 each. Council (January, 1913) appro- 
priated $32,000 for running expenses of these bath houses. 
" Disease means dirt somewhere." 

7. Board of Examiners of Plumbers. 

Required by State Law. 

Independent of the health department is the city phy- 
sician, appointed by the mayor: salary $4,000, with two 
assistant physicians. The council appropriated $7,985 for 
this department, 19 13. Why are not these doctors under 
the health commissioner? 

How are dead animals removed from streets and alleys? 

Notify a policeman or telephone the superintendent of 
streets in the ward. If not removed within twenty-four 
hours, call up the health department, because it then be- 
comes a public nuisance and a menace to health. The dead- 
animal contractor has a contract with the city through the 
health commissioner by which he must remove such bodies 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 33 

free of charge and get his pay from the hides and profit to 
a rendering plant; but he must be notified only by the 
proper city department. This is a round-about process, and 
in the interest of public health, cleanliness, and good munic- 
ipal housekeeping, ought to be made more simple and 
direct. 

A new contract was made in 19 12 by which mo tor- wagons 
are to be used for removing dead animals from the streets. 
Such motor-wagons are already in use for the bodies of 
small animals, and those for large animals are being built. 
This insures much quicker, more thorough service for every 
part of the city. If the citizen could notify directly the 
contractor instead of being obliged often to call two dif- 
ferent city departments, another forward step in municipal 
sanitation would be gained. 

An illustration of the campaign to prevent disease being 
waged by the department of health follows. 

During July and August 1913, the health department 
exhibited its films, " Summer Babies/' and " An Error of 
Omission," in a large number of moving-picture theaters in 
the congested wards of the city. To teach the necessity of 
pure milk the photo-play, " The Man Who Learned," was 
also given. About 260,000 people saw these pictures and 
thus gained a vivid lesson in health preservation. A new 
photo-play, entitled, " Dr. Killjoy Was Right," to illustrate 
typhoid prevention and show on the screen " the high and 
mighty tumblers of the germ family" — the typhoid bacilli 
— has been arranged by Dr. Drake and will soon be ex- 
hibited. Nearly a half million persons visit the 600 " mov- 
ies " in Chicago daily. The health department has been 
quick to seize such an unrivalled opportunity to secure an 
audience for a campaign of health education. 



34 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 



CHICAGO PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS 

Relative Expenditures for 1913 
$6,698,898.64 



Police 



Fire 



Health 



$3,359.3i3-5o 



B 



$1,098,211.20 
C 



EDUCATIONAL WORK AND TUBERCULOSIS PREVENTION 

School purposes for 1913 ,. . . .$18,941,250.00 

Public library, 1913, for maintenance - 851,640.00 

Public library, for buildings 500,000.00 

Municipal tuberculosis sanitarium . 945,000.00 

BACK- YARD PROVERBS 

" Have you a ' swell front and a swill back ' ? Does your land- 
lord, the janitor, do your neighbors, or you yourself, let waste and 
garbage endanger the neighborhood through carelessness ? " — Dr. 
G. B. Young, Health Commissioner of Chicago. 

Dr. Young has issued some back-yard proverbs to impress his 
meaning, reading as follows: 

" Your back yard reflects your habits of cleanliness. 

" What impressions are your neighbors getting from your back 
yard? 

" A dirty neighbor is a menace to neighborhood health. 

" ' Personal liberty ' must of necessity be subservient to com- 
munity welfare. 

" A dirty neighbor will do more than most anything else to 
depreciate residence property values. 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 



35 



W'ip 



vBE-EATHING EOLLS 
Jffi Mowg TKATirrq 
THE, TiXcisSlTY"^ VENTILATION 
©V S2=fOWlN(3r 

AltL POU.V TIOW O F A CLOSED T3.O0I2 



"If you value your reputation, your health, or your property — 
keep clean and see that your neighbors keep clean/' 

The Fresh-Air Crusade. " Four breathing dolls, two 
mamma dolls and two baby dolls, are booked to cover a 
good part of the world as missionaries. They are apostles 
of the fresh-air crusade. 
It begins to look as ^^ 
though they were destined 
to do more for the cause 
of ventilation and fresh 
air than all the talking 
that all the doctors of the 
world have done about 
it. 

"The breathing dolls 
were invented and set to 
breathing by Dr. C. St. 
Clair Drake of the Chi- 
cago health department. 
They are connected by 
rubber tubes with a little 
electric pump that pumps p^^ 
incense through their nos- 
trils. You can see the 
incense rise from them in 
puffs, for all the world as 
though they were breathing in frosty air. Two of the dolls 
lie abed in a tiny room with windows and doors wide open. 
Two lie abed in another tiny room with windows and doors 
tight shut. 

" One side of each of these rooms is a plate of glass. 
And through these plates of glass whoever looks gets the 




3EEATHITTQ DOLLS 
Ta2 WVCfi TEZ3H AIR. IS JUST ZNQUCR 



36 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

lesson of good ventilation slap in the face. One room is 
full of smoke and vapor. The glass is clouded with mist. 
You can hardly see the two dolls that lie abed there, and 
you can't tell for sure whether they are still breathing or 
not. 

" The other has n't a visible particle of smoke or vapor 
in it, except for the little puffs of incense that come from 
the nostrils of the dolls. One room is full of fresh air. 
The other is full of foul air. One room is well ventilated. 
The other is n't ventilated at all. It is n't likely that any 
one who once sees this graphic comparison will ever sleep 
in a closed room again." 

Fire Department. In the early 30's, when Chicago 
was only a village of frame shanties, the trustees expended 
most of their energies planning to safeguard the village 
from fire. No person was allowed " to endanger the pub- 
lic safety by pushing a red-hot stove-pipe through a board 
wall," or " carry open coals of fire through the streets ex- 
cept in a covered fire-proof vessel." All citizens were re- 
quired to keep a fire-bucket in the house and on an alarm 
of fire, hurry to the spot equipped with said bucket ready 
for immediate use. The village grew so fast a hook and 
ladder company was formed in 1835 and the first fire-engine 
was purchased for $894, a wonderful engine for that day. 
Contrast the modern automobile fire-engine costing $9,000 
now used by the city. 

Chicago now values her fire-fighting equipment at more 
than $3,000,000. At the head of the force, two thousand 
strong, is the fire marshal, appointed by the mayor and paid 
$8,000 for his hazardous work. His position is no sine- 
cure; he actually leads his men at many of the fires and must 
be an experienced firefighter to hold his place. He has 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 37 

six assistant marshals, one of whom has charge of fire- 
prevention work. 

The entire city is divided into twenty fire districts, with 
a chief and battalion of firemen in each district. The or- 
ganization and discipline are military in effect, and Chicago 
has the reputation of possessing one of the best organized 
and bravest bodies of firemen in the country. 

The equipment includes nearly one thousand horses, six 
fireboats, steam and chemical engines, automobile-engines 
and trucks, hook and ladder companies, and old-fashioned 
hose carts. There is great need of a new high-pressure 
water system to protect Chicago's sky-scrapers. 

The anniversary of the great Chicago fire, October 9, 
191 3, was celebrated throughout the State by the inaugura- 
tion of a fire-prevention day. Governor Dunne by procla- 
mation recommended its observance. Property-owners 
were urged to clean up their property so as to lessen the 
hazard. Fire drills were held in many schools and shops, 
and an effort made to have rubbish disposed of so that it 
would not increase the fire risk. 

Governor Dunne in his proclamation said : " Statistics 
show fire waste is increasing annually in the State of Illi- 
nois, and last year it averaged $1,000,000 a month. Be- 
sides this, nearly four hundred people in this State lost 
their lives through the agency of fires. No nation or State 
can long endure the waste and drain upon its resources due 
to fire, and the fact that so many of them are largely pre- 
ventable is a reproach to our people and needs immediate 
attention and remedy." 

What can we do as public-spirited citizens to decrease this 
appalling waste from fires? Here is another reason for 
frequent " municipal house cleaning days." 



38 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

POLICE DEPARTMENT OF CHICAGO 

Under the ordinance, passed January 2j, 191 3, for the 
reorganization of the police department of Chicago, the 
general superintendent, appointed by the mayor, with con- 
sent of council, at a salary of $8,000, stands at the head. 
" It shall be the duty of said general superintendent of 
police to preserve the peace and secure good order and 
cleanliness within the city of Chicago, and to that end he 
shall enforce all laws and city ordinances and the orders of 
the city council and the mayor." 

It takes an army nearly five thousand strong to guard 
the lives and property of the city, and it costs Chicago tax- 
payers for this service over $6,698,000 this year. 

The active force of men is now directed by the first 
deputy superintendent under the new semi-military organi- 
zation. The second deputy superintendent must not be a 
member of the police force, but is of equal rank and salary 
with the first deputy. Both are under civil-service rules. 
The second deputy has charge of all departmental property, 
records, inspections, and drills. He has charge of the 
moving-picture bureau, the lost and found department, and 
the supervision of moral conditions in the city. Should you 
have any complaint to make about the conduct of the 
policeman near your home, report to the second deputy su- 
perintendent. He also gives credit and demerit marks to 
the men during drills, both mounted and unmounted, and 
these marks are charged up to the men by the efficiency 
bureau of the civil-service commission and have a decided 
effect on their records for promotion. This is one way to 
secure good discipline among the force. 

A brief account of the various bureaus under which the 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 39 

department is organized will best show the great number 
of services the force renders. 

1. Two motor-boats rescue drowning persons, recover 
bodies and property from the water. 

2. Patrolmen assigned to the forty-five police precincts 
into which the city is divided. These men cover the 193 
square miles of the city's area. 

3. Traffic squad. The pick of the force are assigned 
to guard the street-crossings in the loop and they prevent 
many accidents every day. 

4. Mounted police — 158. 

5. Ambulance and patrol-wagon service. There are 
police ambulances for accident cases in eight wards; seven 
automobile-patrols and automobile-ambulances are now in 
use, a modern feature, increasing many fold the effective- 
ness of this service. 

6. Motorcycle squad for rapid service : To control 
speeding on the city highways and for special strike duty. 
Each motorcycle traveled an average of 1,200 miles per 
month during 19 12. 

7. Vehicle Bureau. Issues licenses to peddlers, public 
automobiles, hack-drivers, garages, stables, and all motor- 
cycles and express-wagons. 

8. Bureau of Vagrancy. Arrests, brings to punishment, 
or deports all suspicious persons and loiterers who seem to 
have no regular business. The article, " The Forgotten 
Army," by H. M. Hyde, Chicago Tribune, September 4, 
191 3, gives a different view of Chicago's army of vagrants. 
The article is well worth reading. 

9. The Dog-Pound Master imprisons stray or vicious 
dogs, looks after the dog licenses, and kills dangerous ani- 
mals. 



40 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

10. Detective Bureau identifies and keeps track of crim- 
inals by aid of photographs (the " rogue's gallery "), finger- 
prints, etc. 

ii. Moving-Picture Bureau has the censorship of films, 
postal and picture cards. In 191 2 this bureau suppressed 
149 films and over 1,100 post cards. It also inspects thea- 
ters and arcades. There are now two additional " inspec- 
tors of moral conditions " who report to the second deputy- 
superintendent. Over a half million men, women, and chil- 
dren visit these shows every day. Of this number over 
150,000 are children under fifteen years old. A strict cen- 
sorship of the films in Chicago is very necessary. 5 

12. Ten policewomen were appointed by the mayor July, 
1913, and placed on patrol duty in the dance halls, at bath- 
ing beaches, and moving-picture theaters. They report to 
the first deputy and are especially charged to look after un- 
protected women, girls, and children. In each of the ten 
police-stations where women arrested are taken, there is a 
police-matron to have charge of such women. These 
twenty women are the only ones connected with the depart- 
ment. 

13. Custodian of Lost, Stolen, and Seized Property. 
About 1,900 packages of money, jewelry, clothing, revolvers, 
bicycles, slot machines, were received by the custodian dur- 
ing 191 2. More than $34,000 in cash was held in trust 
by him. Slot machines and all gambling outfits must be 
destroyed immediately. Revolvers and all dangerous 
weapons taken must be dumped in the lake five miles from 
shore. One of the police motor-boats is used to do this. 
All unclaimed property is sold at public auction and the 
proceeds turned into the police pension fund. It is well for 

5 See Report Gen. Supt. of Police, 1912, pp. 5 and 101. 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 41 

citizens to understand what becomes of lost and stolen prop- 
erty taken up by the policemen and that they must go to the 
custodian's office in the city hall to recover such property. 

Public Safety. Stop ! Look ! Listen ! 6 How can 
each of us help to reduce the large and growing number 
of street accidents? Every time we dart across the street 
before the traffic policeman's signal ; cross the street, or even 
a country road, without looking in both directions for autos 
and teams; attempt to drive over a railroad crossing after 
the warning signal has rung, or the flagman has given notice 
the train is coming, we wilfully, to save two minutes' time, 
run the risk of death, or even worse, being crippled for life, 
by our lawless act. 

Let us call things by their right names. We are law- 
breakers when w r e run these risks, for no one has any moral 
right to endanger his life and limbs in such a reckless 
fashion. If private citizens would take half the pains to 
guard their own lives that the city police department 
through its fine traffic squad, and the railroad and street-car 
corporations, take to protect and safeguard us, the death 
harvest from preventable street accidents would be dimin- 
ished fifty per cent. 

Teamsters, truck-drivers, autoists, are finable if they dis- 
obey the whistle of the traffic policeman. There should be 
a similar ordinance giving the right to arrest and fine any 
pedestrian who likewise disobeys the traffic signal. Until 
the council puts such an ordinance into the municipal code, 
all citizens can help reduce the dangers from Chicago's con- 
gested streets many-fold if they will simply render implicit 

6 See article by F. V. Whiting, by this title " Outlook/' August 23, 
1913. Also Chicago City Manual for 1912, pp. 167-171 ; Mayor's 
letter on " The Automobile and Motorcycle Peril." 



42 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

obedience to the traffic signal — one whistle allowing all 
vehicles to move north and south; two whistles, east and 
west. The pedestrian's opportunity is when the city guard- 
ian of public safety has halted one of the moving lines. 

Chicago Railways Company has a Public Safety Bureau 
and exhibits moving pictures to illustrate its safety direc- 
tions. The company w T ill gladly loan its films to any or- 
ganization or school desiring to teach its useful public-safety 
measures. A Public-Safety Commission of twenty-five 
citizens has been organized (September, 1913) by the 
coroner of Cook County, to investigate the great number 
of deaths in the county through accidents and to suggest 
ways and means to enlist the public in a campaign to safe- 
guard human life on streets and highways. 

SCHOOL SYSTEM OF CHICAGO. . • 

The board of education, of twenty-one members, three of 
whom are now women, are appointed by the mayor, with 
the consent of the council, and have entire control of Chi- 
cago's great public-school system, with three exceptions. 
The council must concur whenever bonds are issued, sites 
purchased, or school buildings are erected. The board ap- 
points the general superintendent, at present Mrs. Ella Flagg 
Young, who has the highest educational position held by 
a woman anywhere in the United States. Her salary is 
$10,000 per year. In the words of Mrs. Young, the aim 
of the school system is : " To invigorate and strengthen 
the children for their future as citizens of this republic." 

The first school building owned by Chicago was built in 
1844 on the present site of the Tribune Building, Madison 
and Dearborn Streets. This block is still school land. 

The following quotation from Beard's American City 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 43 

Government, p. 136, is a good illustration of the " un- 
earned increment " in land values in Chicago and what in- 
come the city schools might have had: " In 1818 — when 
Illinois became a State — the United States government 
gave the square mile between State, Madison, Halsted, and 
Twelfth Streets, to the State of Illinois, to be held in trust 
for the support of the public schools and the education of 
the children of Chicago. Except for one block, between 
Madison, Dearborn, State, and Monroe Streets, nearly all 
this square mile was sold about seventy years ago, for less 
than $40,000. Within fifteen years after it was sold this 
square mile was worth $6,000,000. To-day its value 
is hundreds of millions of dollars — without improvements. 
The rent for this square mile of land would be sufficient to 
support for all time the entire school systems of the State 
of Illinois without an additional dollar of taxation/' This 
statement was made in 1909 by three former members of 
the Chicago school-board. The " unearned increment " is 
the great increase in the value of land due entirely to in- 
crease in population and in no wise to any effort or labor 
on the part of the owner. 

"If Chicago's standing army of 344,000 school children 
were formed in military order, eight abreast, this army 
would make a line forty-five miles long — longer than any 
street in the city." To care for this army, the city main- 
tains three hundred public and high schools with seven 
thousand teachers at an expenditure for 191 3 of $14,500,- 
000 for running expenses and $4,441,000 for new school 
buildings — a grand total of $18,941,000 for public edu- 
cation. 7 

7 Much of this material was prepared in the form of charts by the 
Chicago Woman's City Club, through whose courtesy it is used here. 



44 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

What has Chicago to offer in return for this vast sum, 
which forms one-third of the taxes collected for all pur- 
poses? A child may enter a kindergarten at five and pass 
through the eight grades, then four years in high school, 
and two years at the city normal — should the boy or girl 
desire to teach, — eleven years' training at public expense. 
A child may have physical, technical, manual, and domes- 
tic-science training in addition to the regular mental work, 
with music, drawing, painting, and all commercial branches 
thrown in. For the workers who are ambitious for an 
education, the city provides evening schools with a regu- 
larly paid corps of instructors. October, 191 3, there was 
a small army of 28,000, many over twenty-one, enrolled 
in these " after-supper " classes. 

Notice this list of special classes maintained for the deaf, 
blind, crippled, and subnormal children; open-air and low- 
temperature schools for tuberculous children; a parental 
school for truants at Bowmanville, caring for three hun- 
dred and twenty-five boys under fourteen; and a school at 
the Juvenile Detention Home for delinquents; apprentice, 
vocational, agricultural, and continuation schools. In 
many of the crowded districts the schoolhouse is used as a 
social center for the neighborhood and provides a free hall 
for all kinds of public meetings, clubs, dances, and classes 
of every kind, all under suitable supervision, often a paid 
social director. The people of Chicago are beginning to 
use their tremendous investment in school lands and build- 
ings seven days a week and twelve months a year instead 
of letting it stand idle one-third of the time. 

What of the child who must leave school and go to work ? 
The board of education holds out a helping hand to aid 
him in finding a suitable job through a new bureau of vo- 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 45 

cational supervision. This bureau keeps a list of employers 
of child labor, investigates the positions, consults teachers, 
employers, parents, and the child, and then tries to get the 
young worker into a suitable position for which he is 
naturally fitted. 

CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Chicago owes her public library to the efforts of an Eng- 
lishman, Thomas Hughes, who secured a donation of seven 
thousand volumes in England immediately after the great 
fire of 1 87 1 and persuaded even Queen Victoria to con- 
tribute some of the books. The first volume of this col- 
lection, bearing the Queen's autograph, is still exhibited in 
the library if any interested visitor requests a view of the 
book. 

The present beautiful building houses over 400,000 vol- 
umes and serves more than 100,000 regular patrons hold- 
ing readers' cards. In the reading, circulation, reference, 
public documents, civics, art, and children's rooms, the gen- 
eral and special needs of readers are met. A recent in- 
novation is a " study room for women," on the fourth 
floor, to serve the needs of club women in preparing club 
programs and for the study of topics included in all gov- 
ernmental subjects of interest to the new woman voter 
who desires to use her ballot intelligently. 

The present librarian won his position through competi- 
tive examination — a pioneer experiment in civil-service 
examinations for such difficult and important positions. 
It proved a decided success in securing an efficient, pro- 
gressive librarian. 

A dozen branch reading-rooms, many in schools and field 
houses in the parks, and several circulation centers are also 



46 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

maintained. Many delivery-stations for the convenience 
of readers in distant parts of the city, are maintained. 

The library is governed by a board of nine directors ap- 
pointed by the mayor with the consent of the council, for 
three years, and they serve without pay. The library is 
supported by a special tax of one and two-tenths mills on 
all taxable property in the city, a slight increase since 19 10 
over the old one-mill tax. 

MUNICIPAL RECREATION 
References : 

1. Annual Report: Special Park Commission, Chicago, 1912. 

(This shows what can be done with a small sum of money 
wisely used.) 

2. The Park Governments of Chicago, Chicago Bureau of Public 

Efficiency, December 1911. (Following facts are largely based 
on this admirable report. All the reports of the Bureau of 
Public Efficiency are of exceeding value and interest. They 
are supplied without charge to any one who desires them.) 
Address the director, Harris S. Keeler, 315 Plymouth Court, 
Chicago. 

3. Map of the park districts of Chicago. 

The special park commission of Chicago has jurisdiction 
over sixty-six parks, eighteen playgrounds, two bathing 
beaches, and the city forester. Chicago is famous the 
world over for its parks, playgrounds, and boulevards; 
but the city sadly needs consolidation of park management 
under the city government. There are twelve separate 
park governments within the city of Chicago, not counting 
the special park commission, an arm of the city government. 
Eleven of these governments are independent taxing bodies, 
the Lincoln Park Commission having no separate taxing 
power. Existing park boards now spend approximately 
six million dollars annually. Do the people of Chicago re- 



PARK DISTRICTS 
AND PARKS 

within the 
CITY OF CHICAGO 



Solid Black 







UNDER CONTROL OF 
PARK COMMISSIONS 

Large Park \ 

Boulevard ( 

Small Park 

Fieldhouse and Playground 

Small Park with Fieldhouse 
and Playground 

Bathing Beach ^ 

UNDER CONTROL OF 

CITY GOVERNMENT 

Park A 

Playground O 

Bathing Beach %k 

Boundary of Park District /mmmmm 
Division of .Towns within __.—.—- 
City 



Prepared by 

CHICAGO BUREAU OF 

PUBLIC EFFICIENCY 

1913 




48 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

ceive dollar for dollar in value for this large expendi- 
ture ? 

Moreover there is a general statute, applying to territory 
not within any existing park district, under which addi- 
tional park districts may be established by petition signed 
by one hundred voters, to the county judge, and a special 
election to approve such petition for a park district. Five 
commissioners are elected to manage the new district. 
These commissioners have power to levy a special park tax. 
The commissioners serve without pay, and may issue bonds 
if permitted by the voters. This law applies to the entire 
State and under its authority thousands of park dis- 
tricts have been created. 

The park districts of Chicago are very unequally divided 
among the three sides of the city. The entire area is now 
over 3,220 acres ; but it is not distributed according to popu- 
lation and the great needs of the people in the congested 
wards of the West and Northwest Sides. 

The park governments as now organized can not easily 
be controlled by the people of Chicago. The West and 
Lincoln Park Boards are appointed by the governor of Il- 
linois and the South Park Board by the circuit judges of 
Cook County. The park employees since 191 1 have been 
under the civil-service rules of the State. Consolidation 
of the several park governments with the city government 
would centralize control and responsibility and make the 
government of the parks more democratic. The saving 
thus effected is estimated at a half a million of dollars a 
year. That sum of money would go a great way in extend- 
ing Chicago's system of small parks and playgrounds. The 
special park commission under the city government does 
wonders with its small appropriation from the city council. 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 49 

The South Park Board has the great advantage of the im- 
mensely valuable property in the loop to tax and therefore 
has more money than it can spend. This naturally leads 
to extravagance and waste, while the crowded West Side, 
with its congested foreign population, and dire need of 
public recreation parks, swimming pools, and field houses, 
is too poor to provide all these facilities unaided. The 
only sensible method is to fit expenditure to needs and 
spend the South Side surplus on West Side necessities. 

Chicago's Problems, One of Chicago's most difficult 
problems is the large percentage of foreign-born whites in 
the city — now 35.7 per cent. If to these foreign-born 
persons are added those of foreign or mixed parentage, 
Chicago's percentage leaps up to 77.5. Chicago ranks third 
among the cities of the United States in its population, 
foreign born and of foreign-born parentage. New York 
heads the list with 78.6 per cent. ; Milwaukee has exactly 
the same percentage — 78.6 per cent. ; Chicago is third, 
with 77.5 per cent. 

In common with all large American cities, Chicago shares 
the problems created by the presence of such numbers of 
the foreign born, alien to our language and our ways, yet 
eager to learn both and share in our opportunities for work 
and the chance to make good in business and industry. 
We must never forget our heavy debt to the strong muscles 
and willing hands of these strangers in our midst. They 
build and elevate our railroads, dig our drainage canals 
and sewers; man our factories, build our sky-scrapers and 
make possible all our great manufacturing industries. 
They give us the best they have, their strength and health. 
What return do we make for this necessary service ? Too 
often the slum district is our answer. 



50 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Chicago is face to face with large problems of municipal 
improvement that must be solved soon, or the city cannot 
go forward. A sanitary, economical, modern disposal of 
garbage and all kinds of city waste heads the list, a system 
big enough to care for every block in the city; rapid, safe, 
cheap transportation that will distribute the working popu- 
lation away from the congested centers into suburbs where 
there is land suitable for homes ; the best way to " burn our 
own smoke" and clear the atmosphere; the redemption 
of the lake front; consolidation of the eighteen separate 
governments within Chicago : a suitable harbor — these 
seem to be the most pressing of Chicago's problems. 

John Fiske was right when he wrote : " The modern 
city has come to be a huge corporation for carrying on a 
huge business with many branches." It is coming to be 
more human than a corporation and to mean a business 
proposition plus social service. 

SANITARY DISTRICT 

Of the sanitary commissioners and sanitary district 
trustees, throughout the State, the most powerful and the 
best paid are those of the sanitary district of Chicago. 
Study the map of the sanitary district, p. 51. The san- 
itary district of Chicago is a municipal corporation created 
by the act of 1889 to provide a drainage system for the 
" preservation of the public health " by purifying the wa- 
ter supply. This is to be accomplished finally by turn- 
ing all the sewage in the sanitary district into the drainage 
canal and au r ay from Lake Michigan. 

The excavated portion of the sanitary canal begins at 
Robey Street, Chicago, and runs about thirty miles to the 
controlling works at Lockport. Fifteen miles of this main 



I 
t 

I 

-J. 




MAP 

Of TH£ 

SANITARY DISTRICT 

OF 

CHICAGO 

SHOW/KG r/t£- M/}/A/ C///)M£l. t 
/WORTH 5HOP£ CflJMSL 

CM-UMZT-5A6 CHANNEL u»os« awwca 

*LJO 3HOW/HG /zert A T/O/V or 3»A 

£>/57'&/c r to cook counry 

AHO C/TYO/ 1 C///CAGO 



ScoAr o/M//es 

2- » f ? t f 



CHICAGO 8UREAUo*PU8UC EFFIOCNCY 
1913 



52 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

channel is cut through solid rock. It cuts through the 
watershed, once a glacial moraine, at Summit, Illinois, and 
reverts to preglacial conditions by reversing the current in 
the Chicago river and causing that river to flow west and 
south instead of into the lake. 

The entire canal is one of the most remarkable in the 
world owing to difficulties surmounted in its construction 
and to its purpose. The canal was opened by admitting 
the required amount of water from Lake Michigan in 
January 1900. 

There are nine trustees elected for six years, in the 
November elections, only three being chosen at once. The 
original act has been amended several times to increase the 
territory included in the district and the powers of the san- 
itary trustees by allowing them to develop and sell the 
electric power created by the canal. The sanitary board 
sells the electricity developed at Lockport, and the cities of 
Joliet, Lockport, and part of Chicago are lighted from this 
current: also the Chicago City Hall; Lincoln Park, West 
and South Side systems (in part), and the County Build- 
ing. It costs about fifteen cents an hour to light brilliantly 
the council chamber of the Chicago City Hall from this 
municipally generated electric current — a striking illus- 
tration of the difference in cost of a commodity manufac- 
tured by a public instead of a private corporation. 

The sanitary trustees have very large powers of taxation 
and bond issue. The employees of the district are not un- 
der any civil-service law, and appointments are largely made 
for political instead of merit reasons. The man who con- 
trols the vote gets the " job " every time ! This is a seri- 
ous defect in the law because of the millions of dollars ex- 
pended by the sanitary board. The drainage- canal has 



GOVERNMENT OF CHICAGO 53 

cost the people over seventy-five millions already, and con- 
tracts are pending in the construction of the Sag-Calumet 
branch canal that call for many millions more. Such huge 
expenditures demand honest, efficient work and strict ac- 
count of every dollar spent if the tax-payers get a just 
return for their money. The salary of the trustees is large 
— $5,000 annually — and the president of the board has 
$7,500. These increased salaries have been in force since 
July 1, 191 1. {Rev. Stat., 1912, ch. 24, sec. 346.) This 
is another reason the work of the board should be carefully 
watched and only men of the highest character, who will 
serve the public faithfully, be elected as trustees. 



CHAPTER III 

TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS IN ILLINOIS 

References : 

i. Forman: Advanced Civics, ch. xxvii. 

(Hist, town and township government in general.) 

2. Forman: American Republic, chs. xxiii, xxiv. (In general.) 

3. J. A. Fairlie : Town and County Government in Illinois; Re- 

port Joint-Leg. Com., 47th Gen. Ass'y, 1912, Vol II. 

4. M. H. Newell : Township Government in Illinois, 1904. 111. 

Hist. Pubs., No. 9, pp. 467-504. 

5. Revised Statutes, ch. 139. 

I. Meaning of Terms. There is great confusion in 
the use of the terms, tozvn, township, civil and congressional 
townships, and incorporated town throughout the State. 
The following definitions are based on the Revised Statutes 
and decisions of the Illinois Supreme Court: 

The terms tozvn, township, and incorporated town are used in 
various ways to describe (1) geographical and (2) civil or gov- 
ernmental divisions of the county or State, as follows : 

" 1. The term township, or its abbreviation town, is used to de- 
scribe a geographical division of land, approximately six miles 
square. This is also known as a congressional township, because 
its boundaries were determined by the United States governmental 
survey under an act of Congress. 

" 2. The term township, or its abbreviation town, is also used 
to designate a civil division of the county. This civil township, 
or town, is an involuntary governmental agency; that is, it is im- 
posed upon the people living within the territory which it em- 

54 



TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS IN ILLINOIS 55 

braces by a vote of the electors of the entire county, rather than 
by a vote of the electors who live within its boundaries. 

" 3. The term town, or incorporated town, as it is more fre- 
quently used, denotes a municipal corporation which in all essen- 
tial respects is identical with the municipal corporation known as 
a village. 1 The incorporated town or village differs from the civil 
town or township in that it is a voluntary municipal corporation 
organized by the voters living within the territory included in the 
town or village, whereas the simple town or township is an invol- 
untary governmental agency, as explained above." 

II. How Towns Are Formed. Any county in Illi- 
nois may be divided into towns whenever a majority of the 
voters at any general election approve the proposition. In 
that case it is the duty of the county board to appoint three 
commissioners to make the division. The commissioners 
must make the towns coincide with congressional townships 
if possible and must select names for them; but no two 
towns in the State may have the same name. 2 

" In 1910 there were 1430 civil townships, or towns, in the 
eighty-five counties of Illinois under township organization. 
Most of them are rural communities with a population from 1,000 
to 2,000. But, except in Chicago, where the townships have been 
practically abolished since 1903, the Illinois townships include 
cities and villages within their geographical limits ; so there are 
a number of townships of from 10,000 to 60,000 population. The 
township of Joliet, for instance, contains 16,000 inhabitants out- 

1 " This does not mean that the powers of a village organized under 
the Cities and Villages Act may be exactly the same as the powers of 
an incorporated town, because the incorporated town, in most cases, 
was incorporated under a special act of the Legislature passed prior 
to the constitution of 1870 and under and by virtue of which the town 
still exercises such power as it has. A special charter like this might 
confer other or different powers than those conferred upon a village 
organized under the Cities and Villages Act/' 

2 Rev. Stat., ch. 139, sec. 1-7. 



56 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

side the city of Joliet. There are also eight cities in Illinois 
coextensive with townships — East St. Louis, Springfield (Capitol 
Township), Evanston (Ridgeville Township), Rock Island, Mo- 
line, Macomb, Berwyn, and Belleville. The village of Oak Park 
is also coextensive with the township of the same name." 

The city of Cairo is coextensive with the election pre- 
cinct of the same name. Cairo's county, Alexander, is a 
" non-township " county. These facts illustrate the truth 
of Dr. Fairlie's conclusion that the " system of local gov- 
ernment in Illinois as a whole is more complicated and con- 
fusing than in any other State." 3 

III. The Town Legislature. The General Assem- 
bly of the State and the county board are representative 
bodies elected by the voters. On the other hand, in the 
town the law-making body is the voters themselves assem- 
bled in a town- or mass-meeting. This means a pure 
democracy and is the only instance of such kind of govern- 
ment in Illinois. The annual town-meeting is held the first 
Tuesday in April. This is the months for all regular local 
elections in Illinois except that for the county officers, which 
occurs in November at the same time as the election for 
State officers, congressmen, United States senators, 4 and 
Presidential electors. 

Towns lying wholly within the limits of a city elect town 
officers on the same day as the city elections, the third 
Tuesday in April, except in Chicago, Evanston, and several 

3 Town and County Government in Illinois, by John A. Fairlie, in 
Report of Joint-Legislative Com., 47th General Assembly, 1912, Vol. 
II. Also see article, same title and author, in Annals Am. Acad., May 
J 9 l 3, PP- 1-4, 9-12. Dr. Fairlie's reports are classics on the very 
difficult subject of local government in Illinois. 

4 Seventeenth Amendment, Constitution U. S., 1913. Popular elec- 
tion U. S. senators. 



TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS IN ILLINOIS 57 

other cities where the old towns are practically abolished 
and the work of the town officers performed by the city 
officials. The business of the town-meeting, presided over 
by a chairman called a moderator, is now very slight : to 
elect town officers, hear reports, provide for keeping the 
roads clear of stray cattle, and a few other duties. The 
town government is for rural communities, and is very much 
out of date for cities and large villages. In New England 
and in the rural counties of Illinois under township or- 
ganization, the town-meeting is still " a school for citizen- 
ship/' 

IV. Town Executive Officers. The town officers 
are a supervisor (with assistant supervisors in the more 
populous towns), town clerk, assessor, collector, now 
elected for two-year terms ; 5 three commissioners of high- 
ways, elected for three years, one retiring each year ; 6 
justices of the peace and constables, from two to five ac- 
cording to population, elected every four years. These 
town officers are paid by the day for actual services, or by 
fee. It would be much better if they were paid annual 
salaries and required to render strict account of all fees 
received. There is a town board of health, consisting of 
the supervisor, assessor, and town clerk. Also a board of 
town auditors, made up of the supervisor, clerk, and justices 
of the peace, that examines all accounts of the town 
offices. 

Supervisor. In counties under township organization, 
except Cook County, the supervisor acts in two capacities : 
as chief executive for the town and as a member of the 
county board. As a town officer he handles all town funds 

5 Since April, 1910. Rev. Stat., ch. 139, sec. 154. 

6 May elect only one, if voters of township choose. 



58 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

except school money; 7 is ex-officio overseer of the poor, 
and provides temporary relief for persons in need, or ar- 
ranges for their care in the county infirmary (poor house). 
In towns of more than 4,000 population there may be a 
special poor master appointed by the county board. In 
this case there is little left for the supervisor to do, because 
the town tax levy is only a few hundred dollars. The 
average for 1912, outside of Cook County, was only S615. 

Town Clerk keeps the records of town-meetings and 
all books and papers for the town; certifies to the county 
clerk the amount of taxes required for town purposes and 
acts as clerk for the highway commissioners. 

Assessor places a value on all taxable real estate within 
the town and distributes and receives all personal property 
schedules. 8 The election of town assessors frequently il- 
lustrates the " survival of the unfit/' because they get re- 
election on the promise to assess property in the town low, 
regardless of needs. 

Collector receives all general taxes in the township and 
pays them over to the proper officers, retaining his per- 
centage for collection. 9 

Highway Commissioners (one or three, as the town- 
ship decides at an election), levy the road and bridge tax. 
This road tax must now (1913) be paid in money. A poll 
(head) tax, from one to two dollars, may be levied for 
road or bridge building. 10 This is the only poll tax ever 
levied in Illinois. (See Chapter IV, The County.) 

7 Will act as town treasurer after April 1914, and custodian of the 
road and bridge money. Session Laws, 1913. 

8 See ch. v, The Public Pocketbook, p. 91 

9 See ch. v, The Public Pocketbook, p. 95. 

10 State Aid Good Roads Law, in force, July 1, 1913. 



TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS IN ILLINOIS 59 

Justices of the Peace u and Constables are the judi- 
cial officers of the town. There must be at least two in 
each township, so that a case may be changed from one 
justice's court to the other if any partiality is shown either 
party in the suit. This is called " change of venue." The 
number of justices and constables can not exceed five. Al- 
though elected in the township, their jurisdiction extends 
over the entire county. 

The jurisdiction of a justice of the peace is limited to 
petty, civil and criminal cases involving not more than $200, 
or where the punishment is by fine only, not over $200 and 
costs. They may try violations of the dram-shop law, 
cases of assault, or assault and battery; but they may ex- 
amine any case and bind the offender over to await the ac- 
tion of the grand jury. This will hold him in the county 
jail until his trial unless he can secure bail. 

Justices also have the right to perform marriage cere- 
monies. They may put any violent or disorderly person 
under a bond to keep the peace. Justices are paid by fees 
and this is often a source of much injustice and petty graft. 
Our petty courts would be much improved if justices of 
the peace and constables were paid fixed salaries and the 
fees collected went into the town or the county treasury. 

The orders of the justice of the peace are enforced by the 
constable. It is his duty also to keep peace in the town and 
arrest offenders. In counties without towtlship organiza- 
tion, the justices and constables are chosen in each elec- 

11 Ridgeville Township had the distinction of having the first woman 
as justice of the peace in Illinois, Mrs. Catherine Waugh McCulloch, 
of Evanston. She was elected April 1907, and reelected April 1909. 
She held an office for which she could not vote herself, a curious 
anomaly. Two other women have been elected justices of the peace 
in Illinois since Mrs. McCulloch's election, but she was the pioneer. 



60 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

tion district into which such counties are divided by the 
county board. 

Town officers do their most important work as agents of 
the State and county governments, especially in the assess- 
ment and collection of taxes. 

" Non-Township " Counties. There are seventeen 
" non-township " counties in Illinois. These seventeen 
counties have assessors, collectors, highway commissioners, 
justices of the peace, and constables elected in " road dis- 
tricts " and " election precincts " into which these coun- 
ties are divided by the county board. They do not have 
supervisors or town clerks because the duties of these of- 
ficers are performed by the three county commissioners 
and the county clerk. 

The following comparison of the peace officers in cities 
and towns is of value: 

DIFFERENCES, POLICEMAN AND CONSTABLE 

Policeman Constable 

1. Has regular hours, a " beat," Has none of these. 

or place to patrol, and a 
uniform. 

2. Can serve warrants only. Can serve all writs. 

3. May arrest on sight. Must have a warrant. 

4. Has relation to criminal ac- Has relations to both criminal 

tions only. and civil actions. 

5. Executes orders of a mayor. Executes orders of a judicial 

officer as police magistrate, 
justice of the peace, or judge. 

6. Jurisdiction is the city. Jurisdiction is the county. 

7. Is appointed by chief of po- Is elected in each township ; 

lice and the mayor; usually number depends on popula- 

under civil-service rules. tion and cannot in Illinois be 

more than -five. 

8. Term is good behavior. Term is four years. 



TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS IN ILLINOIS 61 

V. Township Survey Systems. The old colonial 
system of surveying land was very crude and unsatisfactory. 
The old boundaries were trees, even stumps, a " quart of 
charcoal buried under a certain tree," and similar remov- 
able marks. Confusion of ownership resulted, and many 
lawsuits over the title to land. The rectangular system of 
surveys now in use throughout the West was adopted by 
Congress (1785) and is called the " simplest of all known 
modes of survey." Thomas Jefferson was chairman of 
the committee in Congress that proposed this system and 
therefore the plan is often attributed to him; but the real 
originator was Thomas Hutchins, the first surveyor-gen- 
eral of the United States.. (Currey, Hist. Chicago, Vol. I.) 

1. Congressional Townships. Nearly all public land 
in the West is divided into townships of six miles square 
" as near as may be," called congressional townships. 
Some prominent geographical feature, as the mouth of a 
river, is taken for a starting point and through this is 
drawn a meridian line running north and south, known as 
the principal meridian. Through this line at some selected 
point and at right angles to it is run another line called the 
base line. Starting at the intersection of these two lines 
the surveyor measures off distances of six miles on both, 
and through these points runs new intersecting lines. The 
squares of land thus formed contain 36 square miles, " or 
thereabouts," and are the congressional tozunships, bounded 
by the lines running north and south, east and west. 

2. Sections. Each township is subdivided by a further 
series of similar lines into 36 squares, each containing one 
square mile (640 acres), called a section. Each section is 
generally divided still further into quarter-sections of 160 
acres each; these tracts of land are often subdivided. All 



62 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 



these divisions are described by the points of the compass. 
The sections in a township are numbered east and west, west 
and east, alternately. The northeast section is always No. 
i and the southeast section is always No. 36. 
A Township zvith Sections Subdivisions of a Section. 

Numbered. 

Diagram A. 



6 


5 


4 


3 


2 


1 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


18 


17 


16 


15 


14 


13 


19 


20 


21 


22 


23 


24 


30 


29 


28 


27 


26 


25 


31 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 



Diagram B. 






NE^ 


SW^ 1 


* 1 

- tt 


NEy 4 o P 
SEy 4 


sy 2 °* SE14 



3. Problems. Describe divisions marked, 
and give area of each. 

Locate the following pieces of land : 






t, tt, 



1. NwJ4 nwj£ S6. 12 

2. Ey 2 sy 2 S12. 

3. NJ4 ne^ S36. 

4. S^ n^ sw% S27. 

5. W/ 2 seJ4 Sio. 
7. Se^4 sw}4 S15. 



8. Sy 2 nwy 4 Si. 
9- S^ sw^ S7. 

10. S^ s^ sw^4 S31. 

11. Ne% ne>4 S35. 

12. Read and explain: 

Tp. 41 n R. 14 e 3rd P. M. 



Note. — This is the congressional or school township, for the city 
of Evanston. It has two school districts, Nos. 75 and 76. Find the 
number of your township and school district. 

VI. Convergence of the Meridians. Converging 
meridians, because of the convexity of the earth, make 
12 S6, S12, etc., refer to the section number. 



TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS IN ILLINOIS 63 

necessary new base lines and guide meridians every forty- 
eight miles in the latitude of Illinois in order to correct 
the discrepancies in the size of the townships. Six of the 
principal meridians of the United States are numbered and 
the remaining eighteen are named. The greater part of 
Illinois is surveyed from the third principal meridian run- 
ning through the mouth of the Ohio River. Its base line 
crosses it at Centralia in Jefferson County. Parts of Illi- 
nois are surveyed from the second and fourth meridians. 
Every civics pupil should understand the township survey 
system used by the United States Government. An ex- 
cellent account of the township survey system is found in 
Government of Illinois, by Harry Pratt Judson, pp. 30- 
37. See also Currey, Hist, of Chicago, Vol. I, pp. 226, 
22j\ James and Sanford, Government in State and Na- 
tion, Revised Edition, pp. 280-283 ; also Townsend, Illi- 
nois and the Nation, ch. i. Any commercial arithmetic 
will also give space to the topic. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 
(For pupils living in counties under township organization.) 

1. When is your township election? 

2. What township officers do you elect? 

3. How do you care for the poor in your township? 

4. How many townships in your county? 

5. Bound the one in which you live. 

6. (a) What was done at your last town-meeting? (b) How 
many voters attended? (c) Ought the town-meeting to be abol- 
ished? (d) Who would do its present work? (Ask the town 
clerk to let you see the report of that meeting.) 

7. What does it cost to run your township? 

8. For what is the money spent? 

9. Can women vote for township officers in Illinois? Can they 
serve as township officers? 



64 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

io. For what offices are women especially fitted? (Give rea- 
sons for your answer.) 

ii. Has your township good roads? If not, how can you get 
better ones ? 

12. How do bad roads increase the cost of living? 

13. Who are the justices of the peace in your township? 

14. Who assesses the property in your township? 

15. Who collects the taxes in your township? 



CHAPTER IV 

COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

References : 

i. Town and County Government in Illinois, J. A. Fairlie, in Re- 
port Joint Legislative Committee, 47th General Assembly, Vol. 
II, pp. 76-132. This is by far the most thorough report on 
this subject. Get from Secretary of State, Springfield. 

2. Annals American Academy, May 1913, is devoted entirely to 

county government and is very valuable. 

3. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 95-99. 

Local government is " neighborhood government," or 
"home rule." The county, city, village, township, sani- 
tary, school, and park districts are the local governments 
in Illinois and perform the duties of social, or community, 
service. 

The county is the largest local government within the 
State, and touches the lives of the greatest number of peo- 
ple. Illinois has 102 counties, ranging in area from less 
than 200 to over 1,000 square miles, and in population from 
1,000 to over 2,400,000. The principal w T ork of the 
county in Illinois is to 

(1) Levy and collect taxes. 

(2) Administer justice. 

(3) Have charge of the local charity service. 

(4) Have charge of elections. 

See American Republic, pp. 163-165. How many 01 
the officers there named does your county have? (Write 

65 



66 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

your county clerk for a copy of the county budget, or ap- 
propriation bill, to answer this question.) 

County Boards. County boards in Illinois are of 
three types : A board of three commissioners elected at 
large in the seventeen counties not under township organi- 
zation ; a board of supervisors, elected one from each town, 
in the eighty- four counties under township organization; 
a board of fifteen commissioners in Cook County, ten 
elected from Chicago and five from the rest of the county. 
The boards of supervisors are frequently too large for 
efficient government, LaSalle County, for instance, having 
over fifty members. 

" Non-Township " Counties. There are seventeen 
non-township counties now in Illinois. They are generally 
small in area and are in the southern part of the State. 
The list includes Alexander, Calhoun, Cass, Edwards, 
Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Menard, Monroe, Morgan, 
Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Scot, Union, and Wabash. 
In 1907, two counties, Henderson and Williamson, adopted 
township government by popular vote. These seventeen 
counties elect three county commissioners for a term of 
three years, one being chosen each year. This board of 
commissioners is the chief executive and legislative author- 
ity in the county, holding five regular meetings each year 
to transact all county business. These " non-township " 
counties are divided into precincts for election purposes 
and road districts for highway purposes. 

County government in Illinois shares the faults of such 
government throughout the United States, and is too often 
a " tax-eater " without showing commensurate benefits. 
It is " like a big touring-car with the engine going, the 
clutch on, but no driver in the front seat." A " driver " 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 67 

is too often found in the county boss who distributes the 
county patronage. Complete relief can only come through 
amending the State constitution. 

Three things need to be secured to make county govern- 
ment more efficient in Illinois : 

A. Unity of organization (fewer officers). 

B. Administration by experts. 

C. Simplicity of citizenship through a shorter ballot 
(elect fewer officers on one ballot). 

" You can not get good service from a public servant 
if you can not see him, and there is no more effective way to 
hide him than by mixing him up with a multitude of others 
so that they are none of them important enough to catch 
the eye of the average work-a-day citizen." — Roosevelt's 
Columbus Speech, 1912. 

Study the duties of the executive and judicial officers of 
the county through those of Cook County. Are any of 
these officers omitted in your county? About eight coun- 
ties outside of Cook have a separate probate judge. Half 
a dozen counties, notably Adams and Sangamon, have a 
special juvenile court and a separate juvenile detention 
home. 

The usual county officers are the county board, sheriff, 
coroner, county clerk, treasurer (who also acts as asses- 
sor in the non-township counties), superintendent of 
schools, State's attorney, county surveyor, county judge, 
clerk of the circuit court, who also acts as recorder unless 
a county has more than 60,000 population, when a recorder 
of deeds is elected. In each county outside of Cook there 
are elected from nine to thirteen officers. 



68 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

COOK COUNTY 

Early History. Cook County was organized by act 
of the General Assembly, January 15, 1831, in the " winter 
of the deep snow," and included the present counties of 
Lake, Dupage, Cook, and Will. 

The county was named in honor of Daniel P. Cook, 
formerly Illinois representative in Congress. The little 
town of Chicago, not yet incorporated, was made the county 
seat. In June of the same year the Legislature granted 
the new county twenty- four canal lots containing land which 
had been given to Illinois by the United States to encour- 
age the construction of a canal to connect the Great Lakes 
and the Mississippi. Part of these lots were sold to defray 
the current expenses of the new county, but eight lots were 
set aside for a public square to be always used for govern- 
ment buildings. This square is now the site of the Court 
House and City Hall and was originally a gift to the new 
county from Illinois. On this block of land was erected 
the first public structure, called the " Estray Pen," a small 
wooden, roofless enclosure, the first " pound." See Gov- 
ernmental History of Chicago, by Hugo S. Grosser. 

In the autumn of 1835 the first court house was built 
on the Clark and Randolph Street corner of this public 
square. It was a small one-story brick building with a base- 
ment in which were the county offices, while the court 
room, seating two hundred persons, occupied the floor 
above. That insignificant brick building, contrasted with 
the present five-million-dollar court house on the same site, 
is a symbol of the growth of Cook County in eight decades. 

Area and Population. The area of Cook County is 
over 1,000 square miles. It ranks third in Illinois in size 



e/"z#/"6ro* 




county of cook 



c/ryorCH/c/)oo 



Prepared 8<^ 
CHICA60 BUREAU OF PUBLIC EMlClENCV 

1913 



70 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

(McLean and LaSalle are larger), although first in popu- 
lation. The population of the county, outside of Chicago 
is about 200,000. Chicago has now over 2,225,000 in- 
habitants. 

Townships in Cook County. There are thirty-seven 
townships in Cook County, seven of these lying wholly 
within Chicago and their town governments since 1903 
have been largely merged in the city. There are also sev- 
eral consolidated townships like Ridgeville (city of Evan- 
ston), which was formed, 1904, by vote of the people from 
parts of Niles, New Trier, and Evanston. Consult ch. 
iii on Towns and Townships. 

GOVERNMENT OF COOK COUNTY 

Study the Chart of the Government of Cook County, 
p. 87, in connection with this chapter. The appoint- 
ments of the president of the board must be confirmed by 
the commissioners except three civil-service commissioners, 
who are named by the president alone. The board must 
let all contracts for work to be done, after advertising for 
bids, to the lowest responsible bidders. As these county 
contracts involve millions of dollars, this is a wise pre- 
caution. 

County Board. The county board of Cook County 
consists of fifteen commissioners, ten elected from Chicago 
by the voters of the city and five from the county outside 
of Chicago. The voters choose at the same election a presi- 
dent of the county board who must also be elected as a 
commissioner. This officer must be voted for twice, once 
for commissioner and again for president of the board 
(Act of 1893). 

Term. The term of office of Cook County commis- 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 71 

sioners will be four years beginning with the first Monday 
in December 19 14, when the new board takes office. (Act 
General Assembly, 191 3.) 

Duties. The principal work of the board is connected 
with the annual budget, which must be passed by March 
1st each year. The board is divided into standing commit- 
tees named by the president, and their titles show their 
duties : public service, finance, roads and bridges, legisla- 
tion, building, and civil service. The deputy comptroller 
of the county acts as clerk of the board at all its meetings 
and is responsible for the minutes or records. The powers 
of the Cook County board are very exactly stated in the 
Revised Statutes, eh. xxxiv, art. 62. 

Executive Officers. The president of the county 
board presides at all meetings but casts only his regular 
vote as a commissioner. There is no way to settle a tie 
except by reballoting. He appoints the warden of the 
county hospital; superintendent of the poor house and 
tuberculosis hospital at Oak Forest ; three civil-service com- 
missioners ; 1 the county agent, who administers all outdoor 
relief and any special help needed by old soldiers and sailors 
or their families; superintendent of the Juvenile Detention 
Home, who has always been a woman, although the law 
does not require it; superintendent of public service, who 
buys all supplies for the county offices and institutions; 
county attorney, who acts as legal adviser for the board 
and represents the county whenever suits are brought 
against it; county architect, who draws the plans and over- 
sees the erection of all buildings owned by the county. 

1 Cook County has the first woman civil-service commissioner in 
Illinois, Miss Anna E. Nicholes, appointed by President McCormick, 
February i, 1913. 



J2 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Any appropriation of money over five hundred dollars 
must be passed by a two-thirds vote, (10) of the board. 
The president has the right to veto any item he chooses in 
the annual appropriation bill, and such items can only be 
restored to the budget by twelve votes, or four-fifths of the 
board. In the hands of a vigorous president this power 
is capable of doing much good in defeating " salary grabs 
and pay-roll padding " on the part of a corrupt majority 
of the board members. 

The Cook County budget for 19 13 had about nine hun- 
dred items vetoed by President A. A. McCormick, the larg- 
est use of the veto power ever made by a Cook County presi- 
dent. 

The budget as finally adopted carried appropriations for 
more than $15,295,000 for 1913. Any governing body 
that has the legal right to spend over $15,000,000 2 of 
public money in one year — 191 3 — ought to be well 
known, carefully chosen, and diligently watched by every 
citizen. 

Sheriff. The sheriff is the arm of the judge, or 
" court messenger," because he carries out the orders of 
the judge. He sells property for debt; takes a prisoner 
to jail, or hangs him, if the judge so orders. To help keep 
peace in the county, the sheriff appoints deputies (in 191 3, 
29, and 114 bailiffs, similar to special policemen, to serve in 
the courts), but he is responsible for their acts. He ap- 
points the jailer of the county jail and is responsible for 
the care and safe-keeping of its prisoners. By act of 
Legislature, 1905, if a person in the custody of the sheriff 
is lynched, the governor shall remove the sheriff from 
office. 

2 Cook County appropriation bill, 1913, p. 11, total appropriations. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 73 

The contract for feeding the prisoners in the jail is now 
let by the superintendent of public service to the lowest 
reliable bidder and costs Cook County, this year, $25,000. 
Formerly the sheriff was paid twenty-five cents per day 
for feeding each prisoner and had all he could make. 
The office of sheriff was then a fee office and worth from 
$75,000 to $100,000 a year, one of the " richest plums on 
the county political tree." Since 1909 a salary of $9,960 
has been given the sheriff and the fees are now paid into 
the county treasury. Why is this a better arrangement? 
The sheriff and county treasurer can not be reelected. Why ? 

County Clerk. The county clerk holds three offices 
because of his election to the office of county clerk. He is 
ex-officio comptroller and must make all estimates of ex- 
penses for every department of the county government; 
is clerk of the county court and responsible for its records 
although he does none of this work personally; keeps all 
important county papers and the county seal; issues mar- 
riage licenses; keeps all birth records in the county. For 
his work on the taxes, see ch. v, pp. 97-98. He maintains 
three separate offices to perform these varied duties as 
county clerk, comptroller, and clerk of the county court, 
and employs several hundred men and women, none of 
whom is under civil-service rules. Only a few of the more 
experienced employees are appointed strictly because of 
efficiency. 

County Treasurer, who is ex-officio county collector. 
He pays out as well as receives all county funds, on the 
warrant of the county comptroller. He must give a heavy 
bond. One of the unsolved puzzles in Cook County govern- 
ment to-day is, " How much does the treasurer receive for 
his services as county collector in collecting delinquent 



74 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

taxes? " The law. provides $4,000 salary for the treasurer 
and a certain percentage for delinquent tax collections for 
the various towns in the county. Just how many thou- 
sand dollars a year this means, no one seems able to dis- 
cover. Certainly the revenue act needs amending to at- 
tach a fixed salary to the office of collector instead of the 
present arrangement by fee or percentage. 

The law also allows the treasurer to pocket all the in- 
terest paid by the various banks on the county funds de- 
posited with them. The exact amount is unknown, as the 
treasurer always insists the interest agreement is a private 
matter between the banks and himself. Here also the 
statute should be amended, as all such interest on public 
funds should belong to the county in simple justice to the 
tax-payers. 3 

Coroner. 4 If a person is found dead under any sus- 
picious circumstances, or there is no physician's certificate 
stating cause of death, then the coroner, or his deputy, 
must investigate. A jury of six persons is summoned and 
an inquest is held by examining witnesses to determine the 
cause of death. If evidence of crime is disclosed, a war- 
rant for the suspected person is sworn out by the State's 
attorney. Arrest, indictment by the grand jury, and the 
trial may follow, if such suspected person can be found. 
The coroner is the only person who can arrest the sheriff, 
and he acts as sheriff if the latter at any time is unable to 
serve. 

3 There is an item in the budget of 1913, of $162,000, interest on 
bank deposits. What is its meaning? See Report on County Treas- 
urer's Office issued Nov: 1913 by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, 
for clear explanation of this entire subject. 

4 American Republic, p. 162. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 75 

The two offices are the oldest in the entire county, and 
date back to the English " shire reeve " and " crowner," 
the king's personal representatives in the shire, or county. 

Recorder. All deeds and mortgages must be re- 
corded at the county seat. In Cook County a special offi- 
cer is elected for this work, but in most counties the county 
clerk is ex-ofificio recorder of deeds. The county and 
State must know who owns every parcel of land within its 
borders, and whether there is a mortgage on it. Why is 
this necessary ? How does such a record protect the owner 
as well as the county and State ? 

Superintendent of Schools. For the duties of this of- 
ficer, see chapter on Public Education, p. 168. He is par- 
ticularly required to supervise and assist the rural schools. 
Beginning September 191 3, the Cook County superintend- 
ent has appointed five rural directors, each one to have 
charge of the country schools in his district comprising the 
different townships in the county. These directors are 
to oversee the teaching of agriculture in the country 
schools; to encourage the wider use of the schoolhouse as 
a social center, and direct the forming of corn clubs, vege- 
table-canning, fruit- and chicken-raising clubs among the 
boys and girls. This movement to help the country school 
educate the country boy and girl for the farm life, not 
away from it, is one of the hopeful signs of the growth of 
practical education in Cook County rural schools. 

Surveyor. Whenever necessary, the surveyor deter- 
mines the right boundaries of property by a survey. He 
is paid by fees. Why elect such a petty officer ? His name 
only encumbers the ballot. 

State's Attorney. The State's attorney, elected for 
four years at the general election in November, is the pub- 



?6 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

lie prosecutor and legal representative of Illinois in Cook 
County. His office is of great importance because he must 
prosecute all offenders indicted by the grand jury if they 
are ever punished. If the State's attorney is weak or dis- 
honest, the county will lack protection against law-break- 
ers. A faithful State's attorney is a terror to criminals. 
He appoints his own assistants, — at present thirty-three — 
and unfortunately often uses this power to reward political 
friends, and the administration of justice in the county 
often suffers from lack of able legal service. Should the 
State's attorney fail to do his duty, any one of the judges 
may name a special State's attorney and grand jury to in- 
vestigate and prosecute any case. John E. Northup, spe- 
cial State's attorney, and the special grand jury (July 
1913), named by Circuit Judge W. F. Cooper, to investi- 
gate charges of fraud in the general election of November 
5, 1912, illustrates this point. A general election is one 
where any State officer is elected. 

STATE COURTS IN COOK COUNTY. 

There is a circuit, superior, appellate, criminal, and 
juvenile court in Cook County, all of which are State 
courts, but serving that county alone. There are thirty- 
two circuit and superior judges elected in the county, any 
one of whom may hold court. The number of judges de- 
pends on the Legislature, which also fixes their salaries; 
for Cook County, $10,000, half to be paid by the State, 
half by the county. 

The circuit judges are all elected the first Monday in 
June, the superior judges at different times. The term 
of both is six years. The jurisdiction of each court in- 
cludes civil and criminal actions, and cases appealed from 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 77 

the justice, county, and municipal courts. The judges 
themselves select certain of their number to sit in the crim- 
inal court and one judge to preside over the juvenile court, 
where boys under seventeen and girls under eighteen are 
tried and the cases of dependent children settled. 

Clerks of the Courts. There is an elected clerk, each 
at a salary of $9,000, for the circuit, superior, criminal, 
appellate, and probate courts ; the term is six years, and 
they are elected in November. In the interest of econom- 
ical, efficient government, these clerks ought to be appointed 
by the judges of the courts they serve and the judges held 
absolutely responsible for the work of their appointees. 

The three appellate courts for Cook County will be de- 
scribed under the judicial department of Illinois. 

Juvenile Court. This is one of the State courts of 
Cook County. The " right hand " of the judge is the chief 
probation officer, chosen after a competitive examination 
and paid $3,000 per annum. There are now (1913) 
seventy-six assistant probation officers, men and women, 
selected in the same manner as their chief. Their work is 
to watch over and befriend the delinquent and dependent 
children, boys up to seventeen, girls to eighteen 'years of 
age, committed to their charge as " w^ards of the court." 
(Look up the meaning of " delinquent " and " dependent.") 

Cook County has the honor of possessing the first 
juvenile court in the world, established by act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, 1899, preceding the Denver, Colorado, 
court (Judge Ben Lindsey) by six months. Circuit Judge 
Richard A. Tuthill was the first " kid " or " kindergarten 
judge/' as his associates dubbed him, and organized this 
noted court. 

The juvenile court in Cook County has the additional 



78 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

distinction of having the first woman assistant to the judge 
in the State, Miss Mary E. Bartelme, who acts as assistant 
to Judge Pinckney and hears all cases of delinquent girls. 
Miss Bartelme w r as appointed by Judge Pinckney in March 
1913. Her " legal position" is more like a master in 
chancery and the judge enters all orders of the court. 

The Juvenile Detention Home is a temporary home for 
all children awaiting the action of the court, and is sup- 
ported equally by Chicago and Cook County. A careful 
physical examination is given every child on entrance to 
the home, and medical and dental treatment whenever 
necessary. 

The home is under the charge of a woman superintend- 
ent, selected through competitive examination, and there 
are five teachers furnished by the board of education, two 
each for the delinquent boys and girls and a kindergartner 
for the dependent little children. Plans have been accepted 
for a new school building, to be erected the coming year, 
exclusively for the children in the Juvenile Detention 
Home. These plans provide a gymnasium, shower baths, 
roof playground, manual training and domestic-science 
equipment, library, and all the facilities of a modern, up- 
to-date schoolhouse. The need of such a school building 
is very great. 

The probation department of the juvenile court is or- 
ganized under four divisions : Field, Probation, Child- 
Placing, and " Funds to Parents." The latter is popularly 
called the " Mothers' Pension " division, and was difficult 
to administer, because the first law was so loosely drawn. 
Fortunately a new law, carefully drawn, was passed by the 
last Legislature, and has been in force since July 1, 1913. 
The persons eligible, amount of pension, previous investi- 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 79 

gation required, are now clearly stated in the new law. 
(Judge Pinckney of the juvenile court has appointed a 
citizens' committee, from the various organizations deal- 
ing with children, to act with the probation officers, pass 
on the merits of applicants, and recommend the amount 
of pensions to be granted.) The county board appropri- 
ated $165,000 in 1913 for this Parents' Pension Fund. 

During August 19 13, there were 1,126 children under 
fourteen years of age in the families receiving funds in 
Cook County. The families numbered about three hun- 
dred and fifty and the average amount given per child was 
$7.25 for the month. A visiting housekeeper advises these 
mothers about the best way to spend this money for the 
best good of the children. 

The object of the law is a good one: to keep families 
together and enable widowed mothers with small children 
to care for them at home, instead of being obliged to put 
them in a public institution. It can easily be seen that 
great care in administering the law is necessary to prevent 
pauperizing worthy families. 

REPORT JUVENILE COURT FOR I912 

(Courtesy Joseph Moss, Assistant Chief Probation Officer.) 

Cases passed through the court, 1912: 
Delinquent boys, 1,105. 
Delinquent girls, 537. 
Dependent boys, 1,363. 
Dependent girls, 1,255. 

To these must be added the truant cases, 372, and cases 
settled out of court, or where no formal action of the judge 
was needed: 1,100 such cases were settled in 1912. These 



80 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

cases represent part of the valuable preventive work of the 
probation officer. A grand total of 4,632 boys and girls 
had their cases settled in the juvenile court during 1912, 
while 1,100 more were saved from final court action by 
adjustment. It is then fair to say 5,732 junior citizens 
were benefited by the juvenile court during the last year. 
The county judge is elected for four years and holds 
the county court. He appoints the three jury commission- 
ers for Cook County; hears all cases of persons said to be 
insane and assigns them to one of the State hospitals for 
the insane. To assist him in this work he calls a jury of 
six persons, only one of whom must be a physician. 
County Judge Owens, August 19 13, summoned juries of 
women to hear cases of women and girls said to be insane, 
and declared himself well pleased with the work of these 
women jurors — the first in Illinois. He is continuing 
this excellent practice. Cases of non-support and de- 
sertion also come under the jurisdiction of the county 
judge. See section, Charity Service Cook County, p. 83. 
The county judge hears cases of election frauds and is 
responsible equally with the election commissioners for 
carrying out the election laws. Civil suits involving sales 
of property for taxes come before the county court. 

Probate Court, or " Orphans' Court." 

I. General Statement. This court is held by the probate 
judge, elected for four years by the voters of Cook 
County. Seven counties now have a separate probate 
judge. The work of the probate court is to probate 
(prove) wills; appoint guardians for minors with 
property and for adults, incapable through insanity 
or drunkenness, of managing their own property; ap- 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 81 

point an administrator to carry out the terms of a 
will where no executor is named in the will. 

II. Procedure in Probating a Will. 

a. Petition to judge for probate: will must accompany peti- 

tion. 

b. Citation (summons) to persons interested. 

c. Hearing the proofs by judge: 

1. That testator is dead. 

2. That testator was of sound mind and not unduly influ- 

enced when making the will. 

3. That it was the last will and testament. 

d. Admission to probate and letters testamentary issued by 

judge to executor. Why? 

e. Executor sends notice to creditors. 

f. Executor has inventory of estate made. 

g. All claims against estate audited. Why? 

h. Division of property according to will and recording of all 
transfers of real estate in county recorder's office. 
Give a reason for each of these steps. 
There are three general divisions in probating a will : 

1. Proving the will. 

2. Paying the debts. 

3. Dividing the property. 

III. Procedure where Person Dies Intestate, that is, where No 

Will is Left. 

a. Petition to judge for administrator. 

b. Proof of death of person (doctor's or coroner's certificate). 

c. Letters of administration issued. 

d. Remaining steps same as for will except final division of 

estate is according to law, which recognizes only heirs. 

IV. Suggested Questions on Wills. 

1. What is a will? Must it be in the handwriting of the 
testator ? How can a person who can not read or write 
make a will ? 



82 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

2. Why must there be witnesses ? How many ? Must they 

know the contents of the will ? Can they be remem- 
bered in the will? 

3. If a witness dies before the testator, how may the will 

be proved? 

4. What is a codicil? 

5. What is the difference between an heir and a legatee? 

6. Why is it better to make a will? 

7. What hinders a guardian from abusing his trust? 

8. How can an animal be a legatee? An institution? 

Jury Commissioners. There are three jury commis- 
sioners, appointed by the judges of all the courts in Cook 
County; salary not over $1,500. Old soldiers must have 
preference in appointments. The jury commissioners must 
keep on file a list of men eligible for grand and petit jury 
duty in the county and State courts. At least 15,000 cards 
containing the name, age, occupation, nationality, of men 
eligible for the juries are in a large swinging box, hung in 
a frame, in the jury commissioners' rooms. The names 
for the cards are secured from the poll lists kept by the 
election commissioners. Sixty thousand names, eligible 
for petit jury duty, are kept on file all the time and a sepa- 
rate list of three thousand men owning real estate, eligible 
for the grand jury. 

Hozv Juries are Drawn. The clerk of any court re- 
quiring a jury goes to the commissioners, and after the 
violent shaking up of the box containing these cards, he 
draws out as many as his "panel" (number of jurors 
needed) calls for. Then venires (summons to appear as 
jurors) are served on these men. 

The jury commissioners have succeeded in securing bet- 
ter men for jury service in Cook County and in saving time 
for the judges. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 83 

CHARITY SERVICE OF COOK COUNTY 

The charitable institutions of Cook County are the 
largest in the United States, those in New York being 
under the city. Fifty-five cents out of every dollar of taxes 
appropriated by the county board for 191 3 goes to support 
the charity service of the county. This fact alone ought 
to kindle the interest of every citizen in his or her county 
government. The list of charitable institutions follows : 

a. Infirmary or poor house at Oak Forest. This insti- 
tution shelters 2,700 old and infirm persons. It is located 
southwest of Chicago on the county farm of 275 acres in 
Bremen Township. About four thousand dependent chil- 
dren and mothers were given outings at Oak Forest on the 
county farm during July and August 19 13. This work 
was finely organized under a director and two kindergarten 
teachers, and was very successful owing to its careful su- 
pervision by Miss Anna E. Nicholes, county civil service 
commissioner. 

b. County hospital, Wood and Harrison Streets, Chi- 
cago, has 1,650 beds and cared for 29,905 sick, surgical, 
and emergency cases in 19 12. In addition, 17,000 emer- 
gency cases were cared for in the dressing room of the hos- 
pital and sent at once to their homes. These statistics show 
the great amount of work done every year by the county 
hospital. A pretentious new hospital is being built on the 
same site, and when finished will accommodate about 650 
extra beds. 

c. Detention hospital, Wood and West Harrison Streets, 
is for the temporary care of men, women, and children 
thought to be insane and waiting until the county judge 
and a jury pass on their mental condition. A $500,000 



84 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

bond issue was voted by the people (November 1912), 
to build a new, modern detention hospital, properly 
equipped, to care for these pitiable cases. (See page 80.) 

d. Cook County maintains three separate hospitals to 
care for cases of tuberculosis. The hospital now at Dun- 
ning, and on State land, will be removed to Oak Forest as 
soon as the new brick cottages are ready to house these 
patients. By January 1, 19 14, the county tuberculosis 
hospitals will be permanently located on the West Side 
and at Oak Forest, and can care for about eight hundred 
patients. A tent colony for curable cases is now main- 
tained at Oak Forest with eighty-four tents in use. 

e. County agent administers the outdoor poor relief and 
gives temporary relief to the poor in their homes. With 
the advice and assistance of the G. A. R. posts, he dis- 
tributes county aid to needy soldiers and sailors and their 
families. The county is spending (in 191 3) over $538,000 
in outdoor relief through the county agent's office. An 
earnest effort is being made to prevent misuse of this large 
sum by compelling certain unworthy " political poor " to go 
to work. It is estimated a hundred thousand dollars will 
be saved and not a single w r orthy family be turned away. 

f. Juvenile Detention Home for Delinquent and De- 
pendent Children is described under the sections on the 
Juvenile Court of which the Home is a necessary part. 
Sangamon and Adams Counties also have such homes con- 
nected with their juvenile courts. 

g. Adult-Probation Officers. 5 These adult-probation 
officers are to have oversight of " first offenders " and 
young prisoners who are too old for the juvenile court yet 
show desire to reform. These prisoners may be paroled 

5 Act in effect, July 1, 191 1. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 85 

to an adult probation officer for six months or a year and, 
if proved deserving, may be dismissed by the circuit judge 
at the end of their parole without further punishment. 
Part of the earnings of such paroled persons must go to 
people dependent on them for support, and part to make 
good any losses their crime caused. This proves their 
determination to do right and their fitness for complete 
freedom. The law is very carefully drawn and ought to 
accomplish much good if wisely administered. It is under 
the supervision of the circuit and municipal court judges. 
The county has five adult probation officers and there are 
ten for Chicago. Combined appropriation for 191 3 is 
$16,500 and is credited to charity in the appropriation bill, 
h. Social service department of the non-support branch 
of the county court. This unique division of the county 
court was started October 191 1, with one woman investi- 
gator and a " pencil and pad." The work has grown so 
rapidly and proved of such value in assisting the county 
judge through accurate information about these cases of 
non-support that the county board in the budget for 191 3 
appropriated nearly $10,000 for this service. Headquar- 
ters were also provided in Room 1131 in the county build- 
ing. Six women are now employed to investigate all cases 
of non-support brought before the county judge. He 
allows one week usually for such investigation before enter- 
ing judgment against the parties concerned. An average 
of fifty cases a month are settled out of court. About two 
hundred dollars per day is collected at the office of this 
department from relatives able to contribute toward the 
support of aged parents or crippled children who otherwise 
would be county charges in some charitable institution. 
This service, besides its social and charitable aspect, saves 



86 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

the tax-payers each month three times the entire appropri- 
ation for its maintenance for the present year. 

The County Board of Visitors. The county judge 
appoints a board of county visitors composed of " six 
reputable inhabitants " who serve without compensation 
except their necessary expenses while discharging their 
official duties. These duties are to visit at least once a 
year " all institutions, societies, and associations," both 
public and private, to whom dependent and delinquent chil- 
dren are committed by the juvenile court and report in 
writing from time to time to the county judge the condition 
of these institutions and the children they care for, and 
make recommendations for their better management. The 
county board of visitors must also make an annual report 
to the State Charities Commission at Springfield (see ch. 
xiii, State Charities Service). There are now (1913) 
thirty-three such institutions caring for 5,082 dependent 
and delinquent children committed to them by the juvenile 
court. All are in Cook County except the two State 
schools at Geneva and St. Charles. The county board has 
made an appropriation of $180,000 to care for these chil- 
dren for 1913, and pays each institution $15 per month 
for every child committed to its care. There is also pro- 
vision in the law for relatives to contribute part of such 
support if able. The thirty-three institutions include 
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish; colored, Bohemian, Polish, 
German, and Swedish. See Report of County Board of 
Visitors of Cook County for ipi2 to the County Judge, 
which is of exceeding interest. The present board of 
visitors has three women among its members, employs a 
paid secretary, and has done most excellent, progressive 
work. 



THE VOTERS OF 

COOK COUNTY 




''Elective Officials 
Ci. President Included 



Institutions or Appointive Officials 
b. Elected by their respective Townships 

Prepared by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, 1913 

Chart of organization of the government of Cook County, Illinois, 
showing lines of authority and salary rates for elective officials. 



CHAPTER V 

THE PUBLIC POCKETBOOK: HOW IT IS FILLED i 

References : 

i. Revenue Law, Revised Statutes, ch. 120; consult index at be- 
ginning chapter. 

2. Report Special Tax Commission: J. A. Fairlie, 1910. 

3. Greene : Government of Illinois, ch. ix. 

4. Garner : Government in United States; Supplement, pp. 2^-32. 

5. A Tax-Payer's Calendar: County Clerk of Cook County, 

Chicago. 

General Statement. The main source of Illinois' rev- 
enue is the general property tax, levied on real and per- 
sonal property. The most striking feature of this tax is 
the legal recognition in the revenue act of the State of the 
undervaluation of real and personal property for assess- 
ment. Since 1909 the " taxable value" has been one- 
third of the " fair cash value." 

Corporations. Corporations in Illinois are subject to 
taxation in the same manner as individuals; but railroad 
and telegraph property is assessed by the State Board of 
Equalization. Each county, however, is allowed an assess- 
ment for the miles of track lying within it. The same is 
true for the telegraph companies on their mileage of poles 
and wires in each county. 

1 Much of this material is given through the courtesy of Mr. Charles 
Krutckoff, head clerk under the Cook County board of assessors. 



THE PUBLIC POCKETBOOK 89 

Sources of Illinois' Revenue. The income of the 

State of Illinois is derived from: 

A. General tax on property of individuals and corporations. 

B. Seven per cent, on gross income of the Illinois Central Rail- 

road. By the act of 1851, on all its charter lines in the 
State, the Illinois Central is to pay annually to the State, 
7 per cent, on the gross receipts of the corporation. This 
payment is in lieu of any other tax on valuable lands given 
the railroads by the State, and is supposed to be a perpet- 
ual agreement. Illinois receives over $1,200,000 annually 
from this source. 

C. Tax on gross premiums of all life insurance companies. 

D. Inheritance tax on all property probated in the State. This 

is easy to collect because the value of the property is a 
matter of record in the probate court. The tax is a grad- 
uated one; widows and children pay less than more distant 
relatives. 

E. Certain fees and miscellaneous items, as fines. Towns and 

road districts may levy a cash poll tax of from one to two 
dollars for road purposes only. Illinois has never had any 
general poll tax as many other States have. (Session 
Laws, 1913.) 

Property Exempt from Taxation. The State of Illi- 
nois is liberal in kinds of property exempt from general 
taxation. Such property, however, must pay its share of 
any special assessments levied. The classes of property 
exempt are : 

A. All public school lands and buildings. 

B. Other educational institutions of all kinds ; e. g., the Art Insti- 

tute in Chicago, Northwestern University at Evanston. 

C. Churches ; parsonages if owned by the church. 

D. All government property. 

E. Public libraries : e. g., Newberry and John Crerar in Chicago, 

as well as the city-owned public library. 

F. Cemeteries. 



90 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Terms Defined. (To be carefully learned.) 

A. Real property : lands and buildings. 

B. Personal property : movable and " intangible " prop- 

erty; e. g., cattle, threshing machines, furniture, auto- 
mobiles, sewing machines, watches, stocks, and bonds, 
etc. 

C. Personal property schedule: a list of the kinds of per- 

sonal property for purposes of taxation. 

D. Assessment of property : putting a value on property 

for purposes of taxation. Assessed value is one-third 
the market value. 

E. " Levying a tax " : saying how much money must be 

raised in a certain locality to run the government. 

F. " Computing the rate " : finding how much must be paid 

on every hundred dollars of assessed value of the prop- 
erty. 

G. " Extending the taxes " : multiplying the assessed value 

of the property by the rate of taxation and entering 
same in tax-collector's book. 
H. Special assessments are taxes levied for some special 
purpose, as paving a street, laying a sewer or water 
main, and are only paid by the property benefited by 
the improvement. These taxes frequently form the 
heaviest ones against city real estate. They are usually 
paid to a special officer called city collector, and are 
never included in the general property taxes. 

Assessment of Property in Cook County. (General 
features are the same for all other counties in Illinois.) 

A. Personal Property. 

i. Cook County has an elected board of five assessors — 
term six years — to have entire charge of the assess- 



THE PUBLIC POCKETBOOK 91 

ment of real and personal property in the county. In 
counties under township organization, outside of 
Cook, the elected town assessors make the original as- 
sessment subject to review by the county treasurer. 
In the seventeen non-township counties, the county 
treasurer is ex-officio assessor and may appoint deputy 
assessors. 

2. The personal property schedules may be sent by mail, 

or delivered by a deputy assessor. In Chicago they are 
always delivered by the deputy assessors. These depu- 
ties are appointed by the board, or elected by the legal 
voters of the township: they are appointed in Chicago 
and in Ridgeville Township (Evanston), but elected in 
the remaining twenty-nine townships in the county. 

3. Owner of property must fill out schedule by putting 

down fair cash value of his personal property. Sched- 
ules must be returned to the assessor by mail or in 
person. In either case they must be sworn to before 
a notary. After delivery of schedules from five to 
fifteen days are allowed before adding the legal fifty 
per cent, to the deputy assessor's estimate of the value 
of the property. This is only done where the owner 
neglects, or refuses, to fill out his personal property 
schedule. 

Personal property schedules returned are accepted 
by the board of assessors. In the busy months of 
March and April there are from 250 to 300 men under 
the head clerk of the board of assessors, in the work- 
room and outside. Need of a thoroughly trained, ef- 
ficient force of men for all this work is very apparent. 

From the field book a careful copy is made of all 
values on to cards called " slips." 

4. All the items and values given on the personal property 

schedules are absolutely copied on to the Personal Prop- 
erty Tax Warrant. The thirty-eight separate columns 
on this Personal Property Tax Warrant are added to 
find total value of all the personal property in the 
county. 



92 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

5. After this tax warrant is completed, the board of asses- 
sors sign sworn affidavit as to its authenticity and this 
statement is attached to the warrant. An alphabetical 
list of every personal property tax-payer in a district, 
with full cash value of his movable, or personal, prop- 
erty, affixed, is mailed by the board of assessors to 
each tax-payer in the county. Every one can thus know 
how much he is assessed on his personal property and 
compare it with his neighbor's assessment. These 
lists form the basis of the complaints made to the board 
of review. Get such a personal property list for your 
township if you live in Cook County. 

B. Assessment of Real Estate in Cook County. 

1. The assessment of real property is made in a different 
way, to the bewilderment of the tax-payer. In coun- 
ties outside of Cook, the assessments are all reviewed 
by the county treasurer. In all counties except Cook, 
the real-estate books are only made in duplicate. In 
Cook County the county clerk makes the real-estate 
books in triplicate every four years. The books are 
called A, B, and C. Book A is for the county clerk. 
Book B is for the assessors. Book C is for the board 
of review. The county clerk puts the legal description 
of each parcel of taxable property in each of the three 
books. Real-estate books are filled out by assessors 
only once in four years, and sent to the county clerk. 
Each year the assessors simply add the improvements 
made and new buildings erected during that year and 
note all fire losses. There are about 13,000 new build- 
ings erected annually in Chicago. 

Assessors also keep careful track of all estates pro- 
bated and note who receives all such property when 
divided. They ought to work in conjunction with the 
probate court and the recorder's office, if all county 
departments worked for the best, most efficient service 
to the tax-payers of the county. 



THE PUBLIC POCKETBOOK 93 

2. When the assessors have filled out the actual and as- 
sessed value of every parcel of taxable real estate in 
the county for the first year of the quadrennial period 
and entered same in the three books, they are sent to 
the board of review for their corrections, if any are to 
be made. 

Book A alone is sent by the board of review to the 
county clerk. Book B then stays four years with the 
board of assessors, and Book C stays four years with 
the board of review. 

Work of the Board of Review. This board of three 
men, elected for six years, hears all complaints of individual 
tax-payers. Their salaries are large — $7,000 — and they 
only give about two months of their time each year 
to the work. The reason for the large salary is not ap- 
parent. Between July 7 and August 1 these complaints, 
on prescribed blanks, must be filed in person at the rooms 
of the board. August is given to hearing these com- 
plaints. 

The assessors' warrants are sent to the county clerk 
from the board of review as fast as they are completed and 
all are finished about September 15. 

Work of the State Board of Equalization. The State 
board of equalization equalizes assessments of real and 
personal property between counties in the State and also 
assesses railroads and certain corporations, and the State 
auditor reports these values to the various county clerks. 
Each of the 102 county clerks in the State sends the lists 
of real and personal property for the county to the State 
auditor, who is a member of the board. The board now 
numbers twenty-six: one member elected from each con- 
gressional district, and the State auditor is a member ex- 
officio. The members are chosen in November for a term 



94 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

off four years each. The annual meetings are held in 
August. 

Their work is also to assess railroad tracks, or " right of 
way," and their rolling stock — cars and locomotives — and 
to assess capital stock of Illinois corporations. The local 
assessor looks after the property of foreign corporations 
doing business in the State. 

The work of the board is done through committees and 
largely through " star chamber " methods. Its rules of 
procedure are over forty years old and its work is clumsy 
and inefficient. " It should be abolished and a small tax 
commission appointed by the governor substituted." 2 

Work of County Clerk (on Personal Property). The 
county clerk is obliged to copy all names, addresses, and 
assessed values (since 1909 one-third of the real value) of 
all personal property in Cook County from the assessor's 
personal property tax warrants sent him from the board of 
review. This is called the " collector's warrant." 

Computing the Rate. The county clerk computes the 
rate of taxation by dividing the amount of tax to be raised 
in any township or taxation district by the assessed value 
of all the taxable property in that district including per- 
sonal property, real estate, certain railroad property, and 
capital stock of corporations. Each taxing body (except 
the State of Illinois) certifies its tax levy, or amount 
needed from the taxes, to the county clerk for this very 
purpose. There are about four hundred different taxing 
bodies — ■ townships, school districts, cities, villages — in 
Cook County. The rate of taxation has to be found sepa- 
rately for each of these bodies, because there is some taxing 

2 Report, Special Tax Commission, John A. Fairlie, Secretary, No- 
vember 1910. 



THE PUBLIC POCKETBOOK 95 

body, for instance, a small park district in one city or vil- 
lage, that is not included in any other, thus making a dif- 
ferent rate for that district. The assessed value of each 
piece of taxable real estate in the county is multiplied by 
the rate and the amount entered in the assessor's books 
opposite the description of the property. The amount of 
a tax-payer's personal property tax is found in the same 
way, using the same rate, and is also entered in the asses- 
sor's books. The sum of these two amounts makes the 
total of a property-owner's taxes, except special assess- 
ments, — a large exception if you live in a city. 

To still further complicate the process, the rate for State, 
county, township, sanitary, school, and park districts must 
be computed separately, by a similar process. It is easy to 
understand in Cook County, where the difficulties are the 
greatest, why the county clerk's office employs three hun- 
dred men during November, December, and January, the 
busiest season, for all the complicated work of " extending 
the taxes " and entering them in the assessor's books. 
When the work is finished the county clerk sends the books 
to the collectors, and the work of the tax-payer begins. 

Collection of Taxes. This is easy compared with the 
assessment of property and extension of the taxes just de- 
scribed. Taxes are due on and after January 2 annually. 
In all counties under township organization, including Cook, 
taxes are payable to the town collector until about March 
15. Within Chicago, taxes are payable to the county col- 
lector, who is also the county treasurer. In the seventeen 
southern counties not under township organization the 
sheriff is tax collector. 

Delinquent Taxes. Taxes are delinquent April 1 
and must all be paid to the county collector. Interest at 



96 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

I per cent, a month is added after May i as a penalty for 
tardy payment. Two per cent, of the delinquent taxes 
collected may be retained by the county collector as his 
lawful fee. This ought to be remedied by a law giving the 
county collector a fair salary and having all such fees paid 
into the county treasury. 

If the taxes are unpaid August i, the county collector 
and the county clerk, or their deputy, must sell the real 
estate at public auction for the taxes. 

Redemption of Property. The owner has two years 
in which to redeem his property at the office of the county 
clerk by paying arrears of taxes and all other fees incident 
to the sale. After the two years are up, the owner can 
only recover his property by making a bargain with the 
purchaser, who meanwhile holds a tax deed for the prop- 
erty. 

Restrictions on the Taxing Power. The Legislature 
can not contract any debt for the State beyond $250,000, 
unless the people, by a referendum vote, approve such bond 
issue. All local taxing bodies in the State are limited by 
the constitution, or the laws, in respect to the amount of 
taxes they may levy. Except by vote of the people, county 
boards can not levy a tax of more than 75 cents on each 
$100 of the assessed value. City governments are limited 
to 2 per cent, of the assessed value of property within their 
boundaries ; school-boards are limited to 5 per cent, on the 
assessed value of property in the district (school buildings 
excluded), and park and sanitary districts are equally 
limited. These percentages are for annual expenditures; 
the debt limit, or right to issue bonds for public improve- 
ments, etc., is in addition to these percentages. This works 
special hardship on a large city like Chicago, and prevents 



THE PUBLIC POCKETBOOK 97 

many greatly needed public improvements being started. 
The General Assembly of 191 3 passed an amendment to 
the Juul Law which will give some relief by allowing cities 
to levy larger taxes and thus gain an increased income by 
1914. 

Conclusion. This cumbersome and complicated sys- 
tem of assessing property, the taxing of personal property, 
and the undervaluation of all property, leads to dishonesty 
on the part of the owners, who never think of reporting 
all their personal property at its full cash value. Conse- 
quently, taxes in Illinois fall heaviest on conscientious 
people, while rich property owners generally escape their 
just share of taxation. 

Illinois greatly needs a thorough revision and simplify- 
ing of her revenue act and an amendment to the constitu- 
tion to make such revision effective. But to amend our 
constitution seems almost an impossibility. 3 

The local assessors and the county employees for the as- 
sessment and collection of taxes deserve much credit for 
better work than could be expected under the handicaps of 
such a confused and complicated law. The Legislature of 
191 3 refused to provide a small tax commission to super- 
vise and simplify our system of taxation. The Legislature 
also later refused to abolish the board of equalization. 

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 

Get copies of Personal Property Tax Warrant, Personal Prop- 
erty Schedule, list of personal property tax-payers in your town- 
ship with the amount of their personal property; a copy of the 
county collector's warrant — blank sheet, — tax receipts, etc. 

Get the assessor to fill out a sample real-estate assessment on a 
well-known piece of property in your township, or school district, 

3 Amendment of the Illinois Constitution, pp. 198-200. 



98 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

and notice what is entered on the assessor's book. If possible, 
visit the office of the county collector and see the tax books for 
your school district. 

Get a copy of the newspaper in your county with the advertise- 
ments of real estate to be sold for delinquent taxes. 

Assessment of Personal Property, Town of Ridgeville, for 1913: 

Board of Assessors Board of Review 

$3,004739 $2,648,647 

The assessed or one-third value of Real Estate, bounded by 
Rush Street bridge to Twelfth Street and from Lake Street to the 
river, for 1913 : 

Board of Assessors Board of Review 

$186,312,987 $184,158,025 

The assessed or one-third value of Real Estate in the City of 
Evanston for 1913 : 

Board of Assessors Board of Review 

$9,022,080 $8,996,001 

The tax rate in school district No. 75 is divided as follows: 

State . . $ .38 

County .52 

Sanitary 49 

City of Evanston 1.33 

High School 86 

Public Schools 2.15 

$573 

The above rates are the total rates of all tax levies, except for 
park purposes. 



CHAPTER VI 

ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT 

References : 

1. The Election Laws of Illinois, issued by the secretary of State; 

also by election commissioners of Chicago; also issued by 
county clerk. 

2. The Session Laws of 1913, pp. 307-333. 

Principal Election Districts. 

A. Congressional, to elect one representative for Congress. 

The number depends upon the population as deter- 
mined by the Federal census taken every ten years. 
At present there are twenty-five Congressional dis- 
tricts, because the last General Assembly failed to 
reapportion the State. Nevertheless, Illinois has 
twenty-seven Congressmen on account of the in- 
crease in population, and the two additional were 
elected November, 19 12, " at large/' or by the entire 
State, instead of by districts. 

B. Fifty-one Senatorial, to elect one State senator and 

three State representatives for the General Assembly 
at Springfield. 

C. Seven Judicial districts to elect one judge each for the 

State supreme court. 

D. Eighteen circuit districts to elect three judges in each, 

except the eighteenth (Cook County), where four- 
teen circuit and eighteen superior judges are now 
chosen. Appellate judges are appointed by the su- 
99 



ioo ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

preme court from elected circuit judges, and the four 
appellate districts into which the State is divided 
are only for the purpose of holding sessions of the 
appellate court, assigning judges, and electing a clerk 
of the appellate court. 

E. School districts, to elect three school directors and three 

trustees in country districts, or members of boards 
of education in villages and small cities. 

F. Precincts, subdivisions of wards to provide sufficient 

polling places for elections in cities. 

Qualifications of a Legal Voter in Illinois. 

A. Citizens of the United States, either native born or 

naturalized. 

B. At least twenty-one years old. 

C. Three residence qualifications. 

i. One year in the State. 

2. Ninety days in the county. 

3. Thirty days in the election district. In the city 

this means a precinct; in the country, a town- 
ship; in the seventeen non-township counties, 
an " election precinct.'' These five provisions 
are in the State constitution and can not be 
changed without an amendment, in the case of 
the election of any constitutional officer. 1 
They apply to women voters exactly the same 
as to men. 

1 These same qualifications have generally been prescribed by the 
Legislature in the election of other officers whose places have been 
created by the Legislature. This has not always been the case, as 
under an agricultural drainage law of 1885, " adult owners of real 
estate " were the only qualified electors in such drainage districts. 



ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT 101 

Election Officers (for Chicago). Three election 
commissioners are appointed by the county judge for three 
years. The board must be bi-partisan, no more than two 
from the same party. The salary is $4,000 per year. The 
chief clerk receives $5,000 per year and there is an assistant 
chief clerk at $3,000 per year. The real work of the board, 
as usual, is done by these employees. The duties of the 
board are to appoint all the judges and clerks of election, 
have charge of all printing and the distribution of the bal- 
lots, of the ballot-boxes, polling-booths, registration lists, 
the selection of polling-places, counting the ballots, and all 
work connected in any way with an election. The county 
judge has legal supervision over all elections. Chicago 
had 1,329 precincts at the elections in November, 1912. 
Each precinct contains 300 voters 2 as nearly as may be, 
and its polling place must have one booth for each seventy- 
five voters. For this reason you usually find four polling 
booths in each polling-place. There are three judges and 
two clerks appointed for each precinct, paid $5.00 (Cook 
County) per day for four or five days' work. In the elec- 
tion districts in the counties, except Cook, the pay of elec- 
tion officers is only $3.00 per day. 

Registration (in Chicago). There are two general 
registration days, Saturday and Tuesday, four and three 
weeks before election. An amendment to the primary law 
adds two new registration days, one before each primary 
election in February and September (Session Laws, 1913). 
The three judges of election in each precinct form a board 
of registry. Each voter must register in person at the poll- 
ing place in his precinct, giving name, residence, age, nativ- 
ity, citizenship in the United States, to the judges of elec- 

2 In country districts, there are about 400 voters to a precinct. 



102 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

tion. These registration lists are verified afterward by 
the two clerks of each precinct acting as canvassers. The 
revised lists are sent to the election commissioners in the 
city hall, who order the names and addresses, arranged by 
streets and blocks, printed. Other information obtained 
is kept secret, such as the ages of women voters register- 
ing! 

Any voter on application can get an accurate list of all 
legally qualified voters in his precinct without charge. 
These lists are used by all the political parties through their 
precinct captains and election workers to check up the vote 
and aid in getting voters to the polls on election day. 

Registration in Country Districts. Wherever the 
" Cities and Villages Election Act " has not been adopted, 
e. g., in Evanston, Blue Island, Washington Heights, the 
county board appoints three judges of election for each 
election district and each judge appoints one clerk. The 
three judges form the board of registry for the district and 
meet three weeks before the election. At this time it is 
their duty to make a new registration list by transferring 
from the poll lists of the last general election the names 
and addresses of all legal voters of the district and adding 
thereto any new names of which they have knowledge. 

A voter may send by mail to the judges on registration 
day his name and address and that of his neighbor, if he 
chooses, and the judges will register such names. These 
lists are verified by the clerks, printed and posted in some 
conspicuous place where any one can consult them. 

It will be noticed that registration is much more informal 
and less exacting in the country districts than in Chicago. 
The restrictions on voting, in a great city full of stran- 
gers and containing a large floating and foreign-born pop- 



ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT 103 

ulation need to be much more severe than in a small 
city, or in the country where neighbors know each other 
well. 

Primary Elections. The Illinois General Assembly 
passed the present primary election law at a special session 
in 19 10. The law was due largely to the efforts of Gov- 
ernor Charles S. Deneen, who called a special session of the 
Legislature for this purpose. A primary election allows 
voters to nominate directly candidates for office, and places 
such popular nominations under a law similar to the regular 
election law. The present primary law is the fourth passed. 
Three have been declared unconstitutional by the supreme 
court. 

At the primary held in February, April, or September, 
according to the office to be filled, every voter must declare 
his party publicly before he is allowed to vote for the 
nomination of candidates for office. If he has voted for 
the candidate of any other party within two years preceding 
the primary election, or has signed a nominating petition 
for any independent candidate, or a candidate of another 
party, he can not vote at that primary. Voters must not 
change their minds about their party affiliations oftener 
than once in two years. 

These are bad provisions and keep many voters away, 
from the primaries, where their votes are needed to nomi- 
nate suitable men for office. The Illinois primary law is 
planned to encourage partisanship and discourage independ- 
ent voting, a distinctly bad policy, that tends to destroy 
the good effect of a primary law. The principle of the 
primary law is admirable, and represents a long step in 
advance because the rank and file of a party now have some 
direct control through the primary election over the nomina- 



104 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

tions of candidates and the choice of party committees. 
Should any one desire to run as an independent candidate 
for office, he can still do so by getting a petition signed by 
a prescribed number of legal voters, the number of signa- 
tures depending on the office. But as long as we are not 
allowed non-partisan ballots at either the primaries or the 
regular elections, the independent candidate labors under a 
very great disadvantage, as he lacks the powerful aid of 
the organized machinery of the regular parties and the help 
of a party campaign fund. The chances of election of the 
candidate nominated by petition are exceedingly slender. 
Illinois has great need of a non-partisan election law that 
will do away with the party circle for all judicial, city, 
town, county, and sanitary district elections. Such a bill 
was defeated in the last Legislature. 

Committeemen for Political Parties. The law also 
provides for the election of a precinct committeeman in 
each precinct and one member of the State central commit- 
tee of each political party from each congressional dis- 
trict in the State. These elected committees now control 
the party ; but the old congressional, county, and State con- 
ventions are still retained to draw up platforms, discuss 
party management, and select delegates for the National 
nominating convention that selects the candidates for Pres- 
ident and Vice-President. 

The Election. Description of the Ballot. Since 1891, 
all voting for officers in Illinois has been by ballot, and the 
Australian form, with the party columns and circles, is used. 
In counties under township organization, having town 
meetings, the viva voce method ("by living voice"), still 
prevails, as to propositions. Otherwise the Australian bal- 
lot is used. The official ballot is white: specimen ballots 



ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT 105 

in color must be posted in conspicuous places at least five 
days before election to enable the voters to study them and 
learn the names of the various candidates for office. As 
there are from 300 to 400 names on the " blanket " ballots 
used in Cook County at the general election in November 
of the presidential years, it is very necessary to study the 
ballot beforehand if you vote intelligently. Cook County 
elects twenty-three (23) executive and judicial officials, 
thirty-two (32) circuit and superior judges, and fifteen 
(15) county commissioners — seventy names to be placed 
on the ballot under each party column at each quadrennial 
November election. This is one of our most striking illus- 
trations of the great need of ballot reform through a shorter 
ballot. Sample ballots can be secured beforehand from 
county clerks or city clerks. 

The names of all candidates are on the same ballot, ar- 
ranged under their party columns. A small square at left 
of each name and a circle at the left of the party name 
enable the voter to mark his ballot. 

At the polling-place of his precinct, an election judge 
gives him an official ballot, after the voter has declared his 
name and residence, and it has been found and checked by 
the clerk in the registration book. The clerk must also 
enter the voter's name and residence on a poll list, which 
is afterward compared with the list of registered voters, 
showing exactly what percentage of qualified voters in that 
precinct used their voting privilege. 

Marking the Ballot. The voter enters a polling-booth, 
where writing material is provided, and places an X in the 
party circle if he wishes to vote a straight ticket, or in the- 
square opposite the name of every candidate for whom 
he desires to vote if he wishes to vote a " split" or 



io6 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

" scratch " ticket. The latter is independent voting, where 
the voter refuses to be bound by any one party and chooses 
the best man nominated regardless of party. The voter 
is absolutely free to split his ballot at any regular election 
whether he has voted at the primary or not. 

The voter is allowed ten minutes in the polling-booth 
to mark his ballot, if no one is waiting to use the booth; 
otherwise, only five minutes. Should a voter be crippled 
or blind, and unable to mark his ballot personally, then 
two election officers of different political parties may enter 
the polling-booth and mark his ballot according to his dic- 
tation. No drunken person may receive any assistance in 
marking his ballot. 

The judge must put his own initials on the back of the 
ballot given the voter, and the latter must fold his ballot 
with those initials out before leaving the polling-booth, 
and must then watch the election officer drop his ballot 
in the ballot-box. The ballot-box must be in plain view 
and kept locked and never left unguarded during the elec- 
tion hours. 

These are all legal provisions and there is a common- 
sense reason for every one. The great object of the Aus- 
tralian ballot is to secure secrecy, an honest election, and 
an orderly, quiet election day. Polling-places can not be 
in or adjoining a saloon, must be in a clean, light, respect- 
able room on a street, instead of an alley. The use of the 
schoolhouses for election places is gaining favor. There 
is no valid reason why the people's own property should 
not be thus used with due regard to its primary purpose 
as a school. This would save thousands of dollars every 
election now paid for rent of polling-places and provide 
clean, respectable election places as well. 



ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT 10; 

The polls are open in large cities from 6. a. m. to 4 p. m. ; 
in country districts and small cities from 7 a. m. to 5 p. 
m. Every voter is allowed two hours' absence from his 
work without loss of wages to vote, if he gives due notice 
to his employer and arranges the hours with him. All 
primary and election days are legal holidays for banks and 
government offices, but not for schools or business in gen- 
eral. 

Elaborate " Cards of Instructions to Voters " are posted 
in every precinct ten days before the election and serve 
as a guide to the regular polling place in each precinct be- 
cause one card is always posted on the door. 

In Chicago, Cicero, and East St. Louis, where the elec- 
tion act has been adopted, an unregistered voter must lose 
his vote ; he can not swear it in on election day. But else- 
where in the State he has this privilege if he brings a reg- 
istered householder (one who owns or rents a house) as 
witness to his legal qualifications. 

Criticisms. The principal objections to the Australian 
ballot as used in Illinois are ( 1 ) the required party column 
and circle; (2) the large number of names and the size 
of the sheet used, making the ballot cumbersome to handle, 
complicated to mark and difficult to count. 

Counting the Ballots. The counting begins as soon as 
the polls are closed and is done by the judges and clerks 
of the election, w T ho make out the tally-sheets and report 
the results to the county clerk, or to the election commis- 
sioners. Each party and candidate is allowed a watcher 
while the counting goes on to see that no mistakes are made. 
In spite of all precautions, there are usually protests filed 
with the county judge after every election, claiming a wrong 
count of the ballots. Then the votes must be canvassed, 



108 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

or even entirely recounted, by order of the county judge at 
great expense of time and money. 

A Presidential Preference Vote was provided by act of 
the Legislature of 1913. This provides that the name of 
any candidate for president be printed on the primary 
ballot under the name of his political party, provided a 
petition is presented " not more than sixty or less than 
thirty days before the April primary," signed by " not less 
than 1,000 or more than 2,000 primary . electors of the 
party of which he is a candidate." " This vote shall be 
for the sole purpose of securing an expression of the senti- 
ment and will of the party voters with respect to candidates 
for nomination for said office." (Session Laws, 1913, pp. 
330, 331.) In a separate act, provision is also made for 
the nomination of candidates for United States senator at 
the April primary. The next United States senator from 
Illinois w T ill be nominated at the April primaries and elected 
by popular vote at the general election in November 191 5. 

The " Little Ballot." The " little ballot " is the term 
applied to a bond issue, or any proposition submitted on a 
separate ballot to the people for their approval or rejec- 
tion. This is the only form of the referendum possessed 
at present by the voters of Illinois. A comprehensive " I. 
and R." (initiative and referendum) " joint resolution" 
for a constitutional amendment passed the State senate but 
was defeated by one vote in the house in June, 191 3. 

Initiative and Referendum. A true referendum also 
refers to the people certain laws, passed or defeated, by 
the General Assembly. If approved by a majority of votes 
cast at any general or special election, it becomes a law 
without the consent of the Legislature. 

The initiative is the other half of the people's right to 



ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT 109 

make laws for themselves if they can not secure a needed 
law from the Legislature. On a petition signed by a cer- 
tain number of voters, a law considered necessary can be 
proposed by the people without any action on the part of 
the General Assembly. It may then be submitted at the 
next general election, passed by a referendum vote, and be 
placed on the statute books through the direct action of the 
voters. 

Public Policy Law. The General Assembly in 1901 
passed W'hat is known as the " public policy " or " public 
opinion " law. This provides that upon petition of ten 
per cent, of the voters of the State, any question of public 
policy may be submitted to the voters at any State, or gen- 
eral election. No more than three such questions can be 
submitted at any one election and they must be printed on a 
separate ballot, known popularly as the " little ballot.' ' 
This vote of the people in no wise binds the Legislature, 
but is merely to serve as an index of public opinion on any 
important matter of public policy and to indicate what the 
people w r ant. Such questions as State-wide civil service, 
initiative and referendum, and a corrupt practices act have 
received approval at the hands of Illinois voters through 
the public policy law. But no General Assembly has yet 
obeyed the desire of the voters on these important public 
reforms. 

Voting Machines. Illinois has a Voting Machine 
Law, passed in 1903, whereby any city, village, or town 
may adopt a suitable voting machine for use in all elections 
except for school officers. The term " suitable machine " 
is defined by the board of voting-machine commissioners 
consisting of the governor and two mechanical experts w T ho 
are to examine and pass on all machines submitted to elec- 



no ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

tion officers in the State. The law makes many restric- 
tions and requirements for any recommended voting-ma- 
chine. Under its authority a contract for 1,000 voting 
machines costing nearly one million dollars was signed by 
the election commissioners in Chicago in 191 1. Because of 
haste in letting the contract and carelessness in accepting 
untested machines in large numbers, there were objections 
by many citizens to this contract when a large appropria- 
tion was asked from the city council in part payment. A 
legislative investigation of the entire contract was ordered 
by the General Assembly and is still incomplete. The Chi- 
cago Bureau of Public Efficiency has two admirable reports 
on this voting-machine contract. Study these reports to 
find out how municipal contracts are too often let. 

Criticism. The election laws issued by the election com- 
missioners for Chicago contain one hundred pages and 
the primary law nearly fifty. The same laws, applied to 
the rest of the State, issued by the secretary of State, con- 
tain one hundred and thirty pages, and the primary law of 
1 9 10, forty pages. To the latter must be added the amend- 
ment passed in 1913. This shows the difficulties confront- 
ing judges and clerks of election in applying the machinery 
of such a complicated law, to say nothing of the troubles of 
the average voter. Can an ignorant voter be taught to 
" split his ballot '' ? No wonder a majority of the voters 
take refuge in a cross in the party circle and therefore play 
into the hands of the politicians who run the party ma- 
chines. A shorter, more simple ballot is imperatively de- 
manded in the interests of good government in this State. 
Illinois suffers more than any other State, except New 
York, from a multiplicity of elective officers, and Cook 
County has the longest ballot, at the quadrennial November 



ELECTIONS AND THE BALLOT in 

elections, owing to the seventy odd county officers to be 
selected by ballot. 

The Cost of Elections. The cost of elections for Chi- 
cago and Cook County in 19 12 nearly reached the million- 
dollar mark. By the amendment to the Primary Law, in 
force July 1913, two new registration days are added: 
one before the aldermanic primary in February, and one 
before the September primary for county officers, etc. 
These two new registration days will increase the cost of 
elections in 19 14 fully one hundred thousand dollars. This 
enormous sum is due chiefly to the large number of pri- 
maries and elections. City and judicial primaries ought 
to be abolished. Nominations for city and judicial officers 
should be by petition only and party columns and party 
names should be eliminated from judicial and municipal bal- 
lots. 

The heaviest single item in election expenses is the pay 
of the judges and clerks. There are three judges and two* 
clerks to a precinct, each receiving five dollars a day for his 
services, making the cost per precinct per day for services 
on this account twenty-five dollars. There are now 1,329 
precincts in Chicago, and the pay of judges and clerks for 
election and registration days and revision night, rental of 
polling places, printing ballots, cartage of ballot boxes and 
booths, and legal advertising, amount to $140,000. 

A primary election costs Chicago $50,000; a judicial 
election costs Cook County about $56,000. In 1914 there 
will be two elections with two primaries in Chicago and 
Cook County: the aldermanic election in April preceded 
by the primary in February; the regular biennial election 
in November for choosing representatives in Congress, 
State and County officials, sanitary district trustees, and 



H2 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

judges of the municipal court of Chicago. The general 
primary for this election will come in April. Consider the 
saving — nearly half the expense — if the primaries were 
cut out. But it will take action by the General Assembly to 
accomplish this much needed relief, and the next regular 
session is in 191 5. 3 

3 This is taken from an interesting report made by the Chicago Bu- 
reau of Public Efficiency on the " Growing Cost of Elections in Chicago 
and Cook County," published December 30, 1912. 



CHAPTER VII 

JUDICIAL TRIALS AND THE JURY SYSTEM 

References : 

1. Forman : American Republic, pp. 301-307. 

2. Forman: Advanced Civics, pp. 377-384. 

3. James and Sanford : Government in State and Nation, pp. 62-69. 

4. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 146-159. 

5. Winchell: Civic Manual, pp. 214-218. 

6. Guitteau : Government and Politics in United States, pp. 115-127. 

7. Boynton and Upton: Supplement, pp. 51-6. 

8. McCleary : Studies in Civics, ch. ii, iii, vii, and xv. (These 

chapters are especially valuable for high-school pupils, though 
not written for Illinois.) 

" No man's property is safe and no man's welfare is assured where 
justice is denied to the poor, or where crime goes unpunished; no 
State can prosper where human rights are not respected." — David A. 
Wells. 

There are two parties to every suit: The plaintiff, or 
complainant, the party who brings the suit, claiming he has 
suffered some wrong; the defendant, or person accused of 
having committed the wrong. 

" Cases arise in two ways : Through differences in the 
interpretation of the law, and through its violation." 

There are two kinds of cases: Criminal, where a law 
has been broken and therefore the plaintiff is always the 
State ; civil, where a private right is to be protected or en- 
forced and the resulting suit is between two persons or cor- 
porations. 

Common examples of causes of civil actions are non- 
113 



H4 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

fulfilment of contracts, as a failure to finish a building on 
time; failure to pay lawful debts, as a butcher's or tailor's 
bill; relations of employer and employee, as where damages 
are claimed because of injuries received while at work. 

All criminal actions are defined by law and penalties are 
provided for their commission. A civil suit calls for dam- 
ages in the shape of money; a criminal suit means imprison- 
ment, or a fine, sometimes both. 

STEPS IN CIVIL ACTION 

I. Preliminary to the Trial. 

i. Complaint, sworn to by the plaintiff before a jus- 
tice of the peace, police magistrate, or judge, caus- 
ing him to issue the 

2. Summons. This is served on the defendant, di- 

recting him to appear in court himself, or by his 
attorney. 

3. Pleadings: drawn up by the lawyers on both sides, 

stating the charge and the answer to it. Plead- 
ings, are always in writing. 

4. Venires, or summons to the jurors, served if a jury 

is required. Frequently a jury is waived by 
both sides and the case is tried by the judge. 

5. Subpoenas, or summons to witnesses, compelling 

them to appear at the trial to give their testimony 
" under penalty " should they fail to appear. 

II. The Trial. 

1. Opening Statement, usually made by the plaintiff's 

lawyer, stating the ground of action. 

2. Securing a Jury. Jurors are examined as to their 

fitness and w T hether they can honestly " swear to 



JUDICIAL TRIALS AND JURY SYSTEM 115 

try the case according to the law and evidence 
without prejudice or favor." Challenges are al- 
lowed both sides and are of two kinds : " For 
cause/' and " Peremptory/' without any cause 
given. The number of these challenges allowed 
depends entirely on the kind of case and is pre- 
scribed by law. 

3. When the jury has been accepted and sworn in, the 

witnesses for the plaintiff are called first. They 
are put on oath, give their testimony, and are 
cross-examined by the attorney for the defend- 
ant. The witnesses for the defense are then 
questioned by the defendant's attorney and cross- 
examined by the plaintiff's lawyer. The evidence 
includes the testimony of all the witnesses and 
any documents, or legal papers, offered as part 
of the evidence. 

4. Now come the arguments of the lawyers in behalf 

of their clients, when they review the case and 
present the facts brought out by the witnesses in 
the most favorable light for their client. 

5. Charge to the Jury is given by the judge to instruct 

them in the law concerning this special case, or 
if an equity case, referring to the decisions of 
courts involving the same general principles. 
This is not given in a justice of the peace's court 
because such a petty officer is not required to be 
a lawyer or especially familiar with points of law. 

6. The case then goes to the jury, who retire to make 

up their verdict, or decision. This verdict, in 
a civil action, states who wins the suit and recom- 
mends a certain amount of damages in addition 



ii6 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

to the costs of the suit, which must be borne by 
the loser. 
7. The judgment is given by the judge in accordance 
with the verdict, and includes damages, the 
amount awarded the winning party and all costs 
of the suit, except lawyers' fees. Each side must 
pay its own lawyers. If the judgment is not 
satisfied within a certain time by paying it, the 
victorious party secures from the court an exe- 
cution. This directs the forcible carrying out of 
the judgment by the sale of property. In Illinois 
$400 worth of personal property for a married 
man is "exempt from execution"; $100 worth 
if he is single. 

Of course the loser often appeals the case to a higher court, 
or gets the judge to grant a new trial, so it may be years 
before the judgment is paid, even if it should be sustained 
in the higher court. 

CRIMINAL ACTION 

In a criminal case a complaint must be sworn to before 
a justice of the peace, or other judicial officer and at once 
a warrant for the arrest of the supposed criminal is issued 
and served by a constable, sheriff, or policeman, according 
to the court where it is obtained. The offender is brought 
before the court, and if the charge is a misdemeanor, or 
small offense, as petty larceny — stealing under ten dollars 
in value — or disorderly conduct, the case may be tried 
at once before the justice of the peace, or a municipal court. 
But should the charge be a felony, or " high crime," as 
highway robbery, and therefore a penitentiary offense, then 



JUDICIAL TRIALS AND JURY SYSTEM 117 

the accused person by Illinois law must " await the action 
of a grand jury " and be indicted by majority vote of that 
body of twenty-three jurors before he can be tried. His 
case may not be reached in weeks, and even then the grand 
jury may find no " true bill " against him. To compel a 
person only suspected of crime to lie in jail under such 
circumstances, is unjust. 

So bail is allowed, and on presenting proper sureties for 
his bail bond, or money pledged to assure his presence at 
the trial, he may be set at liberty pending the action of the 
grand jury. The grand jury need not wait for the State's 
attorney to offer the indictment against the person, but they 
may bring in a presentment when they know of evidence 
showing a person has broken some law, and may vote that 
a " true bill " should icBue against the person. But usually 
the State's attorney brings in the evidence against the per- 
son accused — all the grand jury ever hears — and indict- 
ment follows if enough evidence is produced. 1 

For the trial a petit, or " little " trial jury of twelve un- 
prejudiced men is necessary, and when they are sworn in, 
the arraignment of the prisoner follows, when the indict- 
ment is read stating the charge against him. 

This is followed by his plea, or answer to the arraign- 
ment. Should he plead " guilty," and " throw himself on 
the mercy of the court," he usually receives a lighter sen- 
tence from the judge. But if he pleads " not guilty," then 
the witnesses are called and the steps in the trial are similar 
to those in a civil action, except a sentence — usually im- 
prisonment — is given instead of the judgment. If the 
sentence is imprisonment, the prisoner is taken to the peni- 

1 For comparison of a grand and petit jury in Illinois, see p. 122. 



n8 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

tentiary at Joliet or Chester, 2 by the sheriff, or his deputy, 
and begins serving his time. By good conduct after one 
year in prison, he may be paroled and allowed to resume 
his ordinary work on condition he report at regular in- 
tervals to the warden of the prison, or to an adult probation 
officer to whom he is assigned. 

He may have an indeterminate sentence given him by the 
judge, and then good conduct while in prison will diminish 
his time by many months. He may also seek the governor's 
pardoning power and then his case goes first to the board 
of pardons for investigation and their recommendation, al- 
though the governor is not obliged to follow the recom- 
mendation. 

Illinois allows capital punishment for " murder in the 
first degree," viz., a cold-blooded murder. The execu- 
tion of five young men in 19 12 in Cook County jail for the 
atrocious murder of a truck farmer is the most recent illus- 
tration of capital punishment on a large scale in Illinois. 
Such wholesale execution in the name of the law has led 
to a growing demand that capital punishment be abolished 
by the Legislature. A bill to this effect failed in the last 
General Assembly, 19 13. Give three arguments for and 
against the death penalty for murder. 

Penal Institutions. Illinois maintains three penal in- 
stitutions for the entire State : The penitentiary at Joliet ; 
the southern penitentiary at Chester for insane criminals ; 
State reformatory for boys over seventeen at Pontiac. All 
female prisoners are kept in the women's quarters at Joliet. 

The Legislature in 1903 abolished contract labor in the 
prisons and substituted a board of prison industries com- 

The State penitentiary at Chester is intended mainly for the criminal 



2 
insane. 



JUDICIAL TRIALS AND JURY SYSTEM 119 

posed of the commissioners of the three penal institutions. 
This law provides that the State may employ not more 
than forty per cent, of its convicts in manufacturing goods 
to be sold in open market, but not until all the needs of the 
State institutions are supplied. The convicts now make 
furniture, mattresses, brooms, cheap grades of clothes, 
shoes, wooden ware. The remaining able-bodied convicts 
must be employed on work for the State. There is pro- 
vision under certain conditions to allow part of the money 
earned by a convict to be paid to his family or relatives. 
He also has an opportunity by this means to save money 
which will be paid him when he leaves the prison. The 
net profits of this convict labor for ten years are $545,000, 
which has been paid into the State treasury. This sum is 
in addition to machinery and equipment purchased out of 
the profits and many thousand dollars set aside as earnings 
of the convicts themselves. The larger share of this prison 
labor is employed crushing stone to be used on the public 
highways. There is an immense demand for this crushed 
stone, which is furnished free to any township, county, or 
road district applying for it through the State highway 
commission and paying all freight charges. The railroads, 
however, charge such high rates that practically only towns 
within a certain freight zone get the benefit of this convict- 
made crushed stone. Here is an opportunity for the new 
Public-Utilities Commission, which begins work in 1914, 
to help the good roads movement by compelling a juster 
freight rate on prison-crushed stone for road-building. 
There are about 1,400 convicts at Joliet and about 300 
each at Pontiac and Chester. A recent law provides for 
a new penitentiary on a farm of not less than one thousand 
acres, located near Joliet, and the prison at Chester is to 



120 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

be moved to the same farm. Convicts are to be employed 
out of doors wherever possible. Illinois is certainly u mov- 
ing forward " in her care of criminals. {Report of Board 
of Prison Industries, 1912.) 

Convict Labor. Illinois is the first State east of the 
Rocky Mountains to try the experiment of putting State 
prisoners at road-building. Colorado, Washington, and 
Oregon have been building roads with " honor convicts " 
for the last two years, and the system has proved of double 
value ; the States have fine roads at a very low cost, and the 
convicts gain much in health and renewed self-respect be- 
cause they are treated like men. 

A band of forty-five convicts, put solely on their honor, 
were sent out in August 19 13, from Joliet, to build roads 
near Dixon, Illinois. They were to work as long as the 
weather permitted their camp to be maintained. No armed 
guards were with the men ; they wore the clothes of common 
laborers, and had much freedom after working-hours. The 
experiment was watched with much interest throughout the 
State. 

Difficulties in Law Enforcement. " Not officers 
alone, but any citizen, may make a complaint against law- 
breakers. But private citizens find it difficult to discover 
sufficient evidence upon which to make a sworn statement. 
It is much easier for the average citizen to let such matters 
alone and attend to his own private business. In the mean- 
time, public funds may be stolen, or the public health of the 
community threatened, or the young people put in danger 
of moral corruption, all for the lack of a complaint, specific 
in its accusations, and supported by definite information. 
These reasons most frequently answer the question, i Why 
is not the law enforced?' At bottom, it is a question of 



JUDICIAL TRIALS AND JURY SYSTEM 121 

public conscience. In communities where a low moral 
standard prevails, a few determined leaders, willing to sac- 
rifice time, labor, and comfort for the public good, have 
sometimes aroused the public to action. No service to the 
community is more to be commended than this." 3 

The Law's Delays. " Other causes of discontent 
with our judicial system arise in connection with court pro- 
cedure. Justice is often delayed through the postponement 
of cases for trivial reasons. Criminal cases may drag 
along for months, until the public interest subsides. A 
wealthy litigant may secure postponements until the re- 
sources of his poorer opponent are exhausted." 

Notable groups of judges and lawyers all over the coun- 
try are urging the necessity of simpler and more direct 
court procedure. The criminal code of Illinois is no. more 
confusing or complicated than the codes of other States, 
and they all need revision. 

Another reason for some of our difficulties is illustrated 
by the recent resignation (October 1, 1913,) of the very 
able probate judge of Cook County because of the corrupt 
political influences that nominate the judges. Judge 
Charles S. Cutting had served Cook County as probate 
judge with distinguished ability for more than fourteen 
years, and through rival administrations — the best possi- 
ble proof of his ability ; — but he refused to serve out his 
term as he could not be given freedom to conduct the work 
of his court according to his own high standards of justice. 
His resignation was a stinging rebuke to the politicians of 
all parties, who control the nomination and election of our 
judges. 

3 Government in State and Nation, James and Sandford, pp. 65, 66. 



122 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 



DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GRAND AND PETIT JURIES IN 

ILLINOIS 



(Am. Rep., pp. 152-153.) 



1. Numbers. 

2. Decisions. 

3. Evidence. 

4. Number of 
Cases. 

5. Kind of Cases 
Heard. 

6. Sessions. 

7. Term of Of- 
fice. 

8. Oath of Of- 
fice. 



Grand Jury 

Indictments by ma- 
jority vote of twelve. 
One side only: plain- 
tiff's. 

May examine any 
number. 
Criminal only. 

Always secret. 
Cook County usually 
one month : else- 
where, three. 
Grand Jurors must 
swear never to re- 
veal what goes on in 
their sessions. 



Petit Jury 
12 or 6. 
Verdict ; unanimous. 

Both sides : plaintiff's 
and defendant's. 
Tries only one case. 

Civil and Criminal. 



In open Court. 
Indefinite : until 
ends. 



case 



Petit Jurors swear, " to 
try the case according 
to the law and evi- 
dence without preju- 
dice or favor." 



SEVEN IMPORTANT WRITS 

A. " The writ of Habeas Corpus is addressed by a judge 
to one who holds another in alleged unlawful cus- 
tody, directing him to produce the person in court 
and show why he detains such person." 

a. Meaning of words : " Bring you," or " produce 

you," the body: literally, " that you may bring 
the body." 

b. History of writ. Gained first in England, reign of 

Charles II, 1679. 



JUDICIAL TRIALS AND JURY SYSTEM 123 

c. May be suspended in time of war only by order 
of Congress. If Congress so directs, President 
may suspend the writ. (See action of Lincoln, 
1861, in Baltimore; also action of McKinley, 
1898, Spanish-American War.) 

B. Injunction is an order from a judge, or court, to a lower 

court, individual, or corporation, restraining them 
from doing a certain thing. Illustration: Injunc- 
tion granted against strikers to prevent injury to 
property of corporation where strike is in prog- 
ress. 

C. Mandamus, " we command," is an order from a judge, 

or court, to another court, individual, or corpora- 
tion, commanding them to do a certain thing. Il- 
lustration : Writ of mandamus could be obtained 
ordering a street-car company to remove tracks ille- 
gally placed. 

D. Writ of Quo Warranto ("by what authority ? ") is an 

order from a judge to a lower court, individual, or 
corporation, to show their reasons for doing a cer- 
tain thing. Illustration: If it is claimed an of- 
ficer has not the legal qualifications required, any 
tax-payer could bring suit under the writ of quo 
warranto to test the office-holder's right to his 
office. 

E. Writ of Certiorari, or " to be certified/' is an order 

from a higher court to a lower court to send up cer- 
tain papers required by the higher court. This 
writ prevents the lower court from blocking the ac- 
tions on an appealed case in a higher court by re- 
fusing to send up important documents needed in 
the case. 



I2 4 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

F. Writ of Attachment is an order to seize property in 

payment of a debt. 

G. Writ of Replevin is an order to recover goods alleged 

to be wrongfully taken or detained. Security must 
be given to hold the goods pending a suit to decide 
ownership; if this goes against the plaintiff, he 
promises to restore the goods. 

These writs are referred to so often that even a layman 
needs to know something about them, although the defini- 
tions given would not satisfy a lawyer. The Statutes pro- 
vide when and how they may be obtained and the services 
of an attorney would be required to interpret the law in 
such a matter. The last two writs may be issued by a jus- 
tice of the peace and a police magistrate, but the first five 
can only be obtained from a judge and a court of record. 

PERTINENT QUESTIONS 

i. If some one owed you $50 and refused to pay, in what court 
could you sue him? If he owed you $250? If the suit involved 
$1,000? If $5,000? 

2. May a person's acts be inquired into by the grand jury with- 
out his knowing anything about it? May grand jurors reveal the 
proceedings of the jury? Why? 

3. Are lawyers officers of the court? What oath does each 
lawyer take when admitted to the bar? 

4. What is meant by " change of venue " ? 

5. What things are " exempt from execution " in Illinois ? 

6. Can a civil suit proceed in the absence of the defendant? A 
criminal suit? 

7. Why are there at least two justices in every town? 

8. Are they county, town, or city officers? 

9. Define " docket," " summons/' " warrant/' " subpoena/ €t ve- 
nire/' " costs," " recognizance." 



JUDICIAL TRIALS AND JURY SYSTEM 125 

10. What are the similarities in a criminal and civil suit? What 
are the principal differences in procedure? 

11. What is the difference between a warrant and summons? 
Sentence and judgment? Plea and pleadings? Arraignment and 
opening statement? 

12. Debate one of these questions: 

A. Resolved, That the grand jury ought to be abolished. 

B. Resolved, That capital punishment is not justifiable. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE STATE OF ILLINOIS: PHYSIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 

Physical Features. Illinois, the " Prairie State," lies 
about the middle of the great central plain that extends 
from the Arctic to the Gulf and from the Alleghenies to 
the Rockies. Its highest point, Charles Mound in Jo 
Daviess County on the Wisconsin line, is about 1,300 feet 
above sea level; the lowest point at Cairo is only 300 feet 
in altitude. 

Latitude. Illinois lies between parallels 37 and 
42 ° 30' north latitude. Three hundred and eighty-five 
miles in length, two hundred and eighteen miles in 
width are its extreme dimensions. Extend these east- 
ward on a map of the United States and observe that 
our southern parallel would strike Old Point Comfort and 
Hampton Roads, Virginia, and our northern parallel would 
touch Boston. If Chicago dwellers could imagine Madison 
Street extended due east three thousand miles it would 
strike the Old Roman Forum, and yet no one thinks of 
Rome and Chicago on the same parallel of latitude. 

Area. The area of the State has been quite accu- 
rately determined as 56,650 square miles in spite of the 
difficulties in surveying two such irregular boundary lines 
as the erratic curves of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. 

Impress these facts about your State on your memory 
and use them frequently for comparison with other States 
and foreign countries. 

126 



THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 127 

Surface. Illinois is debtor for its rich soil and level 
surface to the grinding, carrying power of the great ice 
sheet of the glacial epoch. Only two small areas in the 
State, one in the extreme south and one in the northwest, 
fail to reveal this glacial action, and the fertile prairie soil 
of Illinois is the product of the crushing, grinding power 
of this slow-moving ice-sheet thousands of years ago. The 
rich, level, well- watered surface thus produced has pre- 
destined Illinois for an agricultural State, and in fulfilment 
of its mission the farmers form more than half the popu- 
lation. 

Waterways, No State in the Union has a more mag- 
nificent system of waterways than Illinois. The Missis- 
sippi borders the State for 550 miles measured by its curv- 
ing boundary line; the Ohio and Wabash furnish nearly 
300 miles of water frontage in addition, while Lake Mich- 
igan provides 60 miles of w^ater frontage on the north- 
eastern shore. We still make little use of these natural 
waterways in comparison with foreign countries like France 
and Germany, where cities and provinces have spent mil- 
lions on the development of inland harbors, quays, wharves, 
and freight-handling facilities. Illinois is just waking up 
to the value of her river- and lake-heritage. 

Forests. We have abundant proof that Illinois once 
possessed fine forests, in spite of her present reputation for 
open prairies. Witness the many saw-mills, the home- 
made furniture in the pioneer houses, the miles of rail 
fences and the log cabins of the early settlers. An exhibit 
of woods from Illinois displayed at the World's Fair 
in 1893 showed seventy-five species of native trees. The 
most common are oak, maple, elm, black walnut, hickory, 
ash, birch, chestnut, and cottomvood. 



128 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Coal. It is a surprise to find coal, lead, building 
stone, petroleum, various commercial clays, and even iron, 
hidden under the surface of a prairie State. Illinois ranks 
second in the Union in the production of bituminous coal. 
Nearly two-thirds of the State is underlaid with an excel- 
lent quality of soft coal, and the coal-mining industry is 
one of the leading occupations. (Notice the large number 
of laws to regulate the mining of coal and to protect the 
miners.) 

Indians of Illinois. The most important group of In- 
dians was the confederacy of the Illini, made up of various 
tribes like Michigamies, Peorias, and Kaskaskias. 
Through other parts of the State roamed the Shawnees, 
Sacs and Foxes, Pottowattamies, and Miamis, who have 
left their names on many geographical features of the Mid- 
dle West. 

Indian Relics. Indian mounds are scattered over the 
State. Pottery, cloth, copper ornaments, have been found 
in these mounds. In Cook County along the lake shore, 
from Evanston northward, are remains of various " chip- 
ping stations " that show there were famous arrow-makers 
among the Pottowattamies. These piles of stone chips 
along the lake shore mark the places of manufacture and 
exchange for the famous arrow-heads of this tribe, and 
arrows tipped with this noted product of the Indian artisan 
have been found as far west as the Dakotas, showing how 
widely dispersed was the trade in Illinois wares — a fore- 
shadowing of the commercial greatness of the State. 

Meaning of Illinois. The name of our State is the 
best proof that the Illinois Confederacy had the most to 
do with the early settlements on the Illinois and the Kas- 
kaskia rivers. " Illini," " real men," answered the Indian 



THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 129 

warriors, when Father Hennepin asked who the tall, straight 
braves then in camp were. 

History of Illinois. As far as we have any record, 
two Frenchmen, in 1673, a fur trader, Louis Joliet, and a 
Jesuit priest, Father Marquette, were the first white men 
of European blood to discover and explore the Illinois 
country. Seven years later came LaSalle and his faithful 
captain and friend Tonty, " the man with the iron hand," 
the Indians named him. The two forts built by these 
soldiers of fortune, Fort Crevecoeur at Peoria and Fort 
St. Louis on the famous Starved Rock near Utica, were 
the first attempts to take military possession of the Illinois 
country. The name Starved Rock was given nearly a 
hundred years after Tonty's day, when the conquering Iro- 
quois starved out the Pottowattamies and the Illinois, about 
1769. 

Five French Villages. Probably as early as 1725 five 
permanent French villages, Cahokia, Kaskaskia, New 
Chartres, Prairie du Rocher, and St. Phillipe, had been 
established in the American Bottom along the Mississippi 
and Kaskaskia rivers. The Treaty of Paris closing the 
French and Indian War in 1763, transferred the Illinois 
country to Great Britain. So the lilies of France had to 
yield to the Union Jack of England in the great Indian 
country of the Middle West. Nearly one-third of the 
French inhabitants left their villages, taking their personal 
property and slaves with them. 

Colonel George Rogers Clark. The capture of Kaskas- 
kia and Vincennes by Colonel Clark and his little band of 
"long knives" after their terrible winter march in 1778- 
1779 resulted in transferring the Illinois country to its 
third flag. Colonel Clark's expedition gave the American 



130 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

envoys in Paris at the close of the Revolution courage to 
insist that since United States soldiers were already in pos- 
session of the great Northwest Territory, it must remain 
part of the new nation, and England very reluctantly sur- 
rendered the territory between the Great Lakes, the Mis- 
sissippi, and the Ohio. 

Ordinance of 1787. Almost the last act of the Congress 
under the Articles of Confederation — our first, and un- 
successful, experiment in a national government — was to 
organize the Northwest Territory under the provisions of 
the famous Ordinance of 1787, which provided the first 
permanent government the Illinois country had enjoyed 
since Colonel John Todd, the county lieutenant commis- 
sioned by Governor Patrick Henry to rule the " county of 
Illinois, Virginia/' had gone back to his native state and 
left Illinois affairs in confusion. 1 

Illinois under Territorial Government. Illinois has been 
governed as a part of three separate territories : ( 1 ) 
Northwest Territory, 1787-1800; (2) Territory of Indi- 
ana — 1 800-1809 — which included Illinois, Michigan, 
Ohio, and Indiana (the capital was Vincennes) ; (3) Ter- 
ritory of Illinois — 1809-1818 — including Illinois, Wis- 
consin, and Northern Michigan (the capital was Kaskas- 
kia). The admission of Ohio (1803) and Indiana (1816) 
into the Union as States; the desire for more convenient 
land offices and better opportunity to secure claims in the 
rich government lands being rapidly thrown open for set- 
tlement were the principal reasons the United States or- 
ganized the Indiana and Illinois territories. 

Fort Dearborn. When the United States Government 
built Fort Dearborn at Chicago in the winter of 1803-04, 

1 Smith : Hist. III., ch. xiv-xv. 



THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 131 

its blockhouses and stockade marked the most western out- 
post of the Federal Government, and its building in the 
far wilderness was ridiculed in Congress as a piece of 
national folly. The massacre at Fort Dearborn in 1812 
occurred during the second war with England, and was 
the only noteworthy event of that war in the far West ex- 
cept Hull's surrender at Detroit. 

Illinois a State. Illinois was admitted to the Union 
December 3, 1818, and President Monroe issued the proc- 
lamation announcing the fact to the people of the United 
States. 

Northern Boundary of Illinois. In the famous Ordi- 
nance of 1787, the States to be made from the Northwest 
Territory were to be divided by a line running through the 
south end of Lake Michigan. While the Enabling Act 
to permit Illinois to become a State was under discussion 
in Congress, April, 1818, our territorial delegate, Judge 
Nathaniel Pope, moved to amend the bill by striking out 
the section about boundaries and substituting parallel 42 ° 
30' for the northern boundary. Judge Pope took advan- 
tage of the strong feeling in Congress over the slavery 
question caused by the debate over the Missouri Compro- 
mise. Fear that slavery interests might finally control the 
new State, if its only entrance by water should be the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers, led Congress to adopt the amend- 
ment and make Illinois' northern boundary line parallel 
42 30'. 

" The result was to give Illinois a strip of country sixty- 
one miles wide extending from the lake to the Mississippi 
and including the present fourteen northern counties, with 
a combined area of 8,500 square miles of fertile country. 
It includes sixty-one miles of lake-shore line and the sites 



132 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

of the cities of Chicago, Evanston, Waukegan, Elgin, 
Aurora, Rockport, and Galena. " 2 

" No one ever rendered Illinois a more important service 
in Congress than did Pope. Had the northern tier of 
counties included within the sixty-one-mile strip become 
attached to Wisconsin, Illinois would have lacked an im- 
portant element in her Legislature at the outbreak of the 
Civil War, an element Wisconsin did not require because 
Union sentiment in that State was always very strong. 
The commanding position occupied by Illinois during the 
Civil War, with one of its citizens in the Presidential chair, 
and another leading the armies of the Union, including 
Illinois' two hundred and fifty thousand citizen soldiery, 
illustrates the sound judgment of Pope." 

The Constitutions of Illinois — Principal Points: 

A. Under the Constitution of 1818: 

a. Most State officers elected by the Legislature. 

b. No veto power for the governor. 

c. Judges chosen for life. 

d. Council of Revision, composed of governor and 

judges, revised laws passed by Legislature, and 
were thus a substitute for the veto power. 
Power was vested in the Legislature. 

B. Under the Constitution of 1848: 

a. Officers elected by the people. Council of Revision 
abolished. 

2 Currey's Hist. Chicago, Vol. I, pp. 117-119. 

Note. — " By the Ordinance of 1787, Chicago belongs to Wisconsin." — 
Hon. J. R. Doolittle, speech at opening of Sanitary Canal, January 
1900. 



\J0 DAVIESS IsTEPHgHSOl 







WAYNE 



Union I^Jpopb US' 

/ALEX- y f55i ju V ^ 






Map of Illinois, Showing the Congressional Districts 



134 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

b. Judges elected for definite terms (nine and six 

years). 

c. Power of Legislature to contract State debt limited 

to $50,000 unless people by popular vote consented. 

d. Sinking fund to pay bonds was created by a two- 

mill tax. Power of Legislature much limited : 
due to a $14,000,000 debt created by former Leg- 
' islatures owing to their craze for " internal im- 
provements," like railroads and canals. This 
debt was paid, principal and interest, about 1871 
— the year of the Chicago fire — and citizens of 
Illinois have a right to much pride in the fact that 
their State has never failed to pay its honest debts. 

C. Under the present Constitution of 1870. (For details, 
see legislative, executive, and judicial departments 
of the State, chapters ix, x, and xi.) 

Capitals of Illinois. Kaskaskia remained the capital for 
two years. A request was made that Congress grant four 
sections of land — 2,560 acres — for the site of a town 
to remain the capital of Illinois for twenty years. Con- 
gress at once granted the land and the second capital was 
built near the headwaters of the Kaskaskia river, and 
named Vandalia. 

The "Long Nine/' When the Legislature met in 1836 
the State was much excited over the question of internal 
improvements. A bill was introduced carrying appropria- 
tions for $10,200,000, to build railroads, public roads, and 
canals throughout the State. This same Legislature was 
to locate a new capital, so much log-rolling was the result. 
The " long nine " from Sangamon County, two State Sen- 
ators and seven representatives, included Abraham Lin- 



THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 135 

coin among the delegation. The combined height of the 
men was just fifty-four feet, and they organized a club 
known as the " Long Nine." Through the shrewd trading 
of votes on internal improvements eagerly desired, the 
Sangamon County club succeeded in landing the coveted 
prize, and Springfield, then a village of 1,500 people, be- 
came the capital. 

The year 1837 a ^ so saw the failure of many State banks 
through inability to redeem the wild-cat currency they had 
issued so recklessly. The Lovejoy press riots at Alton, 
caused by Mr. Love joy's attempt to print an anti-slavery 
paper in Illinois, resulted in the murder of the editor and 
owner of the paper by the mob. This murder occurred in 

1837- 

Of all the railroads, canals, and public roads started 
through the immense sums voted by the State Legislature, 
not one was a success except the Illinois and Michigan 
Canal, which was opened for traffic in 1848. The canal 
has paid for itself several times over in tolls received and 
turned a handsome sum into the State treasury as well. 
Should it be filled up now, as suggested, and the land thus 
made sold, the State would be the richer by millions of 
dollars. Such a project to sell the canal would require a 
referendum vote of the people. 

Slavery. There were several attempts to make Illinois 
a slave-holding State. The most exciting, bitterly con- 
tested campaign over the question was fought in 1824 
when the friends of freedom gained a decided victory by 
defeating a proposition for a new, pro-slavery constitution. 
Governor Edward Coles was the leader of the forces of 
freedom and contributed his entire salary of $4,000 to the 
campaign fund. Governor Coles had an able assistant in 



136 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Congressman Daniel P. Cook, who stumped the southern 
part of the State in behalf of freedom. 

The Black Hawk War in 1832 resulted in the United 
States Government removing all Indians from Illinois and 
giving them lands west of the Mississippi. 

The Mormons settled at Nauvoo, arid after six years of 
stormy occupation voluntarily crossed the Mississippi river 
and moved across the plains to Utah Territory, then a part 
of Mexico. 

The Lincoln-Douglas debates; the nomination of Lincoln 
(i860) in the Lake Street Wigwam, Chicago; Illinois' 
honorable record in the Civil War for numbers of troops 
sent to the front (250,000) ; four famous leaders and states- 
men, Lincoln, Grant, Logan, Richard Yates, the war gov- 
ernor and the " soldiers' friend " ; the noted composer of 
war songs, George F. Root, and the wonderful singers of 
those songs, the Lumbard brothers, who sang to civilians 
and soldiers by the thousands on street corners, in the 
camps, at great mass meetings of citizens; the Chicago fire; 
the Haymarket riots ; the Columbian Exposition — all 
these topics are of much historical importance for Illinois, 
but do not come within the range of the title of this book. 

Pullman Strikes. The Pullman railroad strikes of 1894 
involve a civic question and need mention on that account. 
President Grover Cleveland and John P. Altgeld, governor 
of Illinois, had a sharp controversy over the right of the 
President of the United States to send Federal troops into 
a State when the governor of that State had not requested 
them. President Cleveland ordered the regulars from Fort 
Sheridan into Chicago to protect the United States mails 
and carry out the orders of a Federal judge whose injunc- 
tions against the riotous strikers had not been obeyed. 



THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 137 

The governor claimed the State militia could handle the 
situation. But quiet was not restored until the regulars 
had marched into the city and later the Supreme Court of 
the United States sustained President Cleveland's action. 

General References for History of Illinois. 

1. G. W. Smith: Students' History of Illinois, 1907. 

2. Mather: The Making of Illinois. 

3. Greene : Government of Illinois, ch. i, ii, iii. 

4. Randall Parrish : Historic Illinois. 

5. Campbell: Illinois History Stories. (Helpful for older pu- 

pils, although intended for eighth grade.) 

6. J. S. Currey: History of Chicago, 1912. (Very valuable 

for entire State.) 

7. Osman: Starved Rock (1911). 

8. Catherwood: 'Story of Tonti. (Fiction; to be used with 

caution.) 

9. Kinzie : Wauban — Fort Dearborn Massacre. 

10. Parrish: When Wilderness was King. 

11. E. P. Roe: Barriers Burned Away. 

12. Churchill: The Crossing. (Colonel Clark's expedition.) 

13. Carr: The Illini. 

14. Publications Illinois Historical Society, Springfield. 

(List sent on application. One dollar will enroll any 
school on their mailing list and furnish all their reports 
and monographs.) 



CHAPTER IX 

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

References : 

1. Forman: American Republic, pp. 135-144. 

2. Forman : Advanced Civics, pp. 162-167. 

3. Garner : Government in United States, Supplement, pp. 3-12. 

4. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 76-85. 

The Legislature of Illinois is called the General Assem- 
bly and meets in Springfield in the capitol biennially, the 
first Wednesday after the first Monday in January of the 
odd years. The governor may call an extra session any 
time. The General Assembly is bicameral, having a Senate 
of fifty-one members and a House of Representatives of 
one hundred and fifty-three members — a Legislature of 
two hundred and four. 

Apportionment. The legislators are apportioned 
among the fifty-one senatorial districts. One senator and 
three representatives are elected from each district in No- 
vember of the even years. Senators from the even-num- 
bered districts are elected at one November election and 
the senators from the odd numbered districts at the next 
biennial election. The entire one hundred and fifty-three 
representatives are elected every two years. In conse- 
quence, the house must reorganize every regular session. 

The senatorial districts are determined by population, 
and the Legislature reapportions the State every ten years 
according to the new Federal census. Cook County has 

138 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 139 

nineteen senatorial districts and seventy-six votes in the 
General Assembly. Minority representation, or " cumula- 
tive voting/' is allowed only in electing State representa- 
tives. 

Minority Representation. Minority representation 
is the unique feature in the Constitution of 1870. Every 
voter has three votes for State representative, 1 He may 
divide them as he likes : one to each of three; one and a half 
to each of two men; or he may "plump" his three votes 
on one man, thus assuring his election. This gives repre- 
sentation to a party in the minority and when adopted was 
hailed as a notable reform. After forty years' service, 
it works out in this way : The leaders of the two older 
parties agree to nominate two candidates, or one, in each 
district, according to their relative strength in each of the 
fifty-one senatorial districts. Then by this ingenious de- 
vice of the voter massing his three votes on their one candi- 
date, the party in the minority throughout the State is sure 
of electing one-third the representatives. The situation is 
somewhat complicated by the entrance of a third party : yet 
three large parties instead of two only make it easier for 
a small group of voters by "plumping" to defeat the 
divided strength of their enemies and elect their candidate, 
who is often entirely unfit to represent the district. Mi- 

1 For a few years this method of " cumulative voting " was tried in 
electing trustees of sanitary, or drainage, districts, in the State. But 
that section of the Drainage Act was soon repealed, and now minority 
representation is limited to State representatives. (Rev. Stat., ch. 
xlii, sec. 217.) There is provision, however, for cities to use minority 
representation in the council by electing three aldermen from a ward 
and applying cumulative voting, if any city chooses to adopt this 
method. But the law seems to be a dead letter at present. (Rev. Stat,, 
ch. xxiv, sees. 53-54. In force July, 191 1.) 



i 4 o ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

nority representation in its present form ought to be cast 
out of the constitution and the unvarying principle, " one 
man, one vote/' substituted. 

Qualifications. Both senators and representatives 
must be citizens of the United States and have lived in the 
State five years and in their districts two years before elec- 
tion; but senators must be twenty-five years old, while 
representatives are only required to be twenty-one. Sen- 
ators' term is four years and representatives' two. Each 
is eligible for reelection. 

Disqualifications. No one can legally be a mem- 
ber of either house if he has ever been convicted of bribery, 
perjury, or any other crime; neither is he eligible if, having 
held public funds, he has failed satisfactorily to account 
for them. He can not hold any other profitable State or 
Federal office at the same time he is a member of the Legis- 
lature. 

Each member, before he can take his seat, must " de- 
clare on oath that he has not given any bribe to secure his 
election and that he will accept no bribe during his term 
of office." (Constit, Art. IV, sec 5.) Any member who 
refuses to take this oath, or is guilty of perjury in taking 
it, thereby forfeits his seat. All such questions as the 
right of any member to his seat are decided by each house 
for its own members. It takes a two-thirds vote to expel 
a member. The expulsion of Frank D. Comerford, second 
senatorial district, by the House of Representatives, in 
1905, illustrates this point. Comerford charged wholesale 
corruption in the Legislature of 1905 in a speech made in 
Chicago, and given wide publicity through the daily press. 
A special committee in the House investigated the charges 
and recommended Comerford be expelled. This was done 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 141 

in February by a vote of 121 yeas to 13 nays, being more 
than the required two-thirds vote. He was reelected by 
his district at a special election called by the governor April 
4, 1905, was sworn in a second time and served out his 
term. (See Journal House of Representatives for 1905.) 

By all these devices Illinois has tried to keep her Legis- 
lature pure; but she has not succeeded very well, as the 
General Assembly has not had a good reputation for most 
sessions. The members, however, represent the will of 
the active voters in their districts — the stay-at-home voter 
does not count — and therefore the Legislature is fully 
up to the average intelligence and morality of the voters 
in the State. 

Salary. Senators and representatives are paid $2,000 
per session and ten cents mileage for necessary travel in 
going and returning from Springfield; also an allowance 
of $50 for newspapers and stationery. Do they have the 
" franking privilege," like members of Congress? 

Organization. The lieutenant-governor is president 
ex-officio of the Senate, but has no vote except in case of 
a tie. The senators choose one of their number for presi- 
dent pro tern to preside in the absence of the lieutenant- 
governor. The speaker is chosen by the representatives 
from their own number. Where the majority party is 
split into factions, or there is a third party in the House, 
as there has been most sessions since 1870, prohibitionists, 
socialists, labor party men, or progressives, the struggle to 
elect a speaker may consume weeks. The regular session 
of the 48th General Assembly did not organize for three 
weeks (from January 8 to 29, 1913), when the speaker- 
ship deadlock was broken by the election of William Mc- 
Kinley (Dem.), from Lake View, Chicago, as speaker. 



142 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

The unusual selection of two United States senators to 
succeed Shelby M. Cullom, whose term expired March 4, 
191 3, and William Lorimer, whose seat had been declared 
vacant by the United States Senate, was the cause of the 
deadlock. The election of J. Hamilton Lewis (Dem.) for 
the six-year term and Lawrence Y. Sherman for the short 
two-year term, March 26, through the Democratic-Repub- 
lican combination, broke a second lengthy deadlock. These 
are the last tw T o senators to be elected by the General As- 
sembly. (See Amendment XVII, U. S. Con.) 

Powers of the Speaker. The speaker of the House 
has large power through his appointment of all com- 
mittees, including the naming of the chairman. He also 
has the power of recognizing or ignoring a member who 
desires to address the House, according as he favors or 
disapproves of his motion. This is known as the power 
of recognition. He declares the result of every vote, and 
unless the yeas and nays are recorded in a roll call, the 
speaker may announce a motion carried which his party 
favors, when a roll call would show it defeated. This is 
" gavel rule," because the fall of the speaker's gavel as he 
announces the vote, legally closes it, and has often been 
used to " railroad through " bad bills and defeat good ones. 
If the lieutenant-governor and the president of the senate 
are unable to act as governor, the speaker assumes the 
office for the remainder of the term. 

Employees. Each house chooses clerks, postmas- 
ters, sergeants-at-arms, doorkeepers, and a horde of lesser 
employees, such as watchmen, janitors, messengers, stenog- 
raphers, secretaries to the members, " clock-winders, and 
transom-openers/' the number chosen depending very 
largely on the size of the throng of hungry politicians 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 143 

clamoring for jobs as rewards for political services ren- 
dered at the previous November election. The corridors of 
the capitol are crowded with this army of needless em- 
ployees. 

Sessions. The Illinois General Assembly has the 
very bad habit of generally meeting only on Tuesday, Wed- 
nesday, and Thursday each week, and practically little work 
is done before the middle of April. They usually adjourn 
early in June, and thus a session of five months means only 
six weeks or two months of actual law-making. In the 
meantime the State is paying all legislative employees for 
full-time work. The bad custom of permitting members 
of the Legislature to accept railroad passes is largely to 
blame for these short weekly sessions, and a rigid anti-pass 
law would bring about a reform. But such an anti-pass 
bill has been quietly killed in the Legislature many times. 

Committees. The real work of the two houses is 
done in standing committees, numbering from three to 
twenty-five. Every member is assigned to one or more 
committees. In the Senate these committees are elected 
after being nominated in party caucuses. A party-caucus is 
a meeting, usually secret, of the members of a political party 
in House or Senate, to determine committee membership, or 
how the party members shall vote on important bills. If the 
party leaders are able men, they hold their party members 
rigorously to the policy agreed on in the caucus. 

In the House the speaker names the members of the 
committees. If he is slow in announcing these committees, 
as in the 48th Assembly, 1913 (not all selected until the 
last of April), the House falls below the Senate in its work. 

The principal committees are those on appropriations, 
judiciary, elections, agriculture, education, railroads, rev- 



i 4 4 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

enue, waterways, charitable and reformatory institutions. 
The Senate has about forty standing committees; the 
House, about seventy. 

Rules of Procedure. Each house adopts its own 
rules of procedure. The rules of the House have been in 
use many years and are well adapted to allow the party in 
the majority to ride rough-shod over the minority. A 
small beginning was made in the Legislature of 19 13 to 
alter these ancient rules; but any genuine reform was de- 
feated by the house machines. It takes an actual majority 
of all the members elected in either house to pass a bill 
on its final, or third reading: seventy-seven votes in the 
House and twenty-six in the Senate is the constitutional 
number. 

Work of Legislature. The following are the prin- 
cipal things the General Assembly may do through its law- 
making power, although the number of laws passed is legion : 

1. Raise and collect a revenue by direct taxation. 

2. Raise and maintain a militia. 

3. Create and maintain a public-school system. 

4. Provide for higher education, as a State university, 
normal and high schools. 

5. Care for defectives, as the insane, blind, deaf and 
dumb, paupers, and epileptics. 

6. Detect and punish crime. 

7. Maintain a system of public roads. 

8. Charter corporations, as railroads, banks, insurance 
companies, clubs, etc. 

9. Create and control local governments, as counties, 
cities, villages, school districts, towns, sanitary and drain- 
age districts. 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 145 

10. Determine conditions of the suffrage and make all 
election laws. 

How a Bill Becomes a Law. Bills may originate 
in either house, and any member of the General Assembly 
may introduce a bill. This is done when the roll is called 
on certain days early in the session and members respond 
by reading their bills by title. For most bills the process 
of being turned into law resembles an obstacle, or " hurdle 
race." The first difficulty encountered is the committee to 
which it is referred by the speaker, if introduced in the 
House. When a bill is introduced in the Senate, the sen- 
ator responsible usually requests that it be referred to a 
certain committee, of course one he thinks favorable to his 
bill. The committee has power to cut the bill to pieces, or 
amend it, so that even the author would not recognize his 
own bill. If hostile to the bill, the committee may " pigeon- 
hole " it, " lay it on the table/' and fail to report it out 
of committee. However, if the member introducing it is 
actually interested in its passage, he may, by his persistent 
inquiries about the bill, make the chairman of the commit- 
tee " holding it up " so uncomfortable that the committee 
may report it out " without any recommendation," — 
equivalent to disapproval of the bill — or with the " recom- 
mendation that it do not pass" — a far worse fate for the 
bill. The committees are justly named " legislative grave- 
yards." 

The time allowed for debate on a bill is determined by 
the days left in the session and the number of bills to be 
considered. In the hurried closing hours of the last day, 
generally a day-and-night session, scores of bills, advanced 
to third reading, are rushed through without debate, and 



146 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

when many members have no idea what they are voting 
on. Hundreds of good bills also fail through lack of time 
to vote on them in the crowded closing session. The final 
vote is always by roll call, when the " ayes and nays " are 
recorded in the journal. This gives excellent opportunity 
for the voters in each district to learn how their members 
voted on important bills. 

The Legislative Voters' League issues very interesting 
bulletins each week of the session of the General Assembly. 
These bulletins report what is done and how each member 
votes, or " passes/' at every roll-call. They are the best 
way to keep track of your State representatives and senator. 
Any one can get the bulletin by addressing the secretary 
of the League at Chicago, or Springfield, and enclosing 
postage. For a humorous account of the sessions of the 
48th General Assembly (1913), see the letters of George 
Fitch, member from Peoria, in the Chicago Tribune \ 
Sunday edition, January to June, 1913. These letters are 
well worth reading as the first impressions of a new member 
who went to the Legislature anxious to serve his district 
well, but found himself helpless under the rules of pro- 
cedure under which the House works. 

Some members dislike the publicity of a roll-call so much 
they refuse to vote rather than be recorded on certain bills. 
What of the courage, or convictions, of such a dodging 
legislator? 

All bills must be read on three different days; on two 
days usually by title only, but the title of a bill must tell 
plainly what it is about. Amendments can not be added 
after a second reading, unless by unanimous consent of the 
members present, or by sending it back to the committee. 
The bill is ordered printed after second reading with the 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 147 

amendments, and a copy is placed on the desk of each mem- 
ber. 

Lobbying, or the efforts of interested persons not legis- 
lators, on behalf of a bill, is a common practice. Many 
powerful corporations maintain paid lobbyists at Spring- 
field through every session to work for or against certain 
bills. Log-rolling, or the exchange of votes between legis- 
lators, is another common practice. " I will vote for your 
bill if you will vote for mine/' 

The Enacting Clause. One way the enemies of 
a bill may kill it is to " move to strike out the enacting 
clause." If this motion prevails, the bill is doomed. No 
bill can become law unless it is prefaced by the words, 
" Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, rep- 
resented in the General Assembly." 

The Veto Power. After passing both houses and 
being signed by both presiding officers, the bill is sent to 
the governor. He may keep it ten days, holidays and Sun- 
days excepted. If he fails to return it at the end of this 
period, it becomes a law without his signature. If he ap- 
proves the bill he signs it ; the secretary of State affixes the 
great seal of Illinois, and attends to its publication. The 
bill is now a law, and goes into effect July 1, unless some 
emergency exists and the law goes into effect at once. 
Emergency matters must have a two-thirds vote for im- 
mediate enforcement. (Constit, Art. IV. sec. 13.) 

But should the governor disapprove, he returns the bill, 
with his objections, to the house where it started; it must 
then receive a two-thirds vote in each house to pass it over 
the veto and make the bill law without the governor's sig- 
nature. Should the General Assembly have adjourned, 
then the governor files the bill with his objections with the 



148 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

secretary of State and the bill fails to become law, at least 
until the next session of the Legislature. 

The Selective Veto. The governor of Illinois may veto 
any item in an appropriation bill and allow the rest of the 
bill to become law. This is a valuable aid in preventing 
extravagant or unwise items slipping into an appropriation 
bill. All appropriation bills are required to state the 
amount of each item and its purpose. This is to protect 
the governor's selective veto and to guard against extrava- 
gant expenditure. 

Legislature of ip jj. A quotation from " Bulletin No. 
21, Legislative Voters' League of the State of Illinois/' the 
last issue for the 48th General Assembly, follows : " Ad- 
journment of the 48th General Assembly, the most remark- 
able session of a State Legislature in the history of Illinois, 
in many respects, came at five o'clock this morning — June 
21 — when Speaker McKinley let fall the House gavel for 
the last time. Fifty Senate bills (passed by the Senate) 
ready for final action were swept into the discard. Of the. 
1,617 bills introduced in both houses only 240 ran the legis- 
lative gauntlet and reached the governor's desk for signa- 
ture. The final week of the State's longest legislative ses- 
sion — from January 8 to June 21 — was one of feverish 
activity. From morning to midnight each day of this final 
week, members fought to have advanced and passed the hun- 
dreds of bills that had piled up during the months of inac- 
tivity. Most of them failed, and during the last three days, 
hundreds of measures, important and unimportant alike, 
were lost. The most important measures which passed 
both houses include : Woman's Suffrage, State Public 
Utilities Commission, Municipal Ownership of Public Util- 
ities, Consolidation State Fish and Game Departments, 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 149 

State Epileptic Colony Appropriation, Good Roads, Pri- 
mary Law Amendments, Workmen's Compensation Act, 
Legislative Reference Bureau, Chicago Municipal Court 
Act, Chicago Outer Harbor. 

" Members declined to enact an anti-railroad pass law un- 
less it had for a companion measure a salary boost for 
legislators (from $2,000 to $3,500). The senate refused 
to concur in what some of the members styled a legislative 
bribery proceeding, and killed the salary raise bill after 
it had passed the bill forbidding passes. The House 
promptly responded by sending the anti-pass bill to legis- 
lative limbo." 

One senator remarked, " This Assembly ought to do its 
work in ninety days! If the Legislature would adjourn 
for five years, the State would be better off." This quota- 
tion illustrates from the proceedings in the last session of 
the Legislature several points mentioned in this chapter. 
Practical, recent illustrations of actual government in Illi- 
nois are always desirable. 

Comparison of Congress and General Assembly of Illinois. 
[Fill out this outline.] 
General Assembly. Congress. 



I. 


Legal Name. 




2„ 


Time and 
Place of Meet- 
ing. 






A. 


Senator. 




B. 


House. 


3- 


Composition. 






A. 


Senator. 




B. 


Representative. 


4- 


Qualifica- 





tions. 



ISO ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

General Assembly. Congress. 

A. Senate. 

B. Representative. 

5. Term of Ofi- 
flce. 

6. Time of Elec- 
tion. 

7. Presiding Of- 
ficer. 

8. Sole Powers. 

9. Salary. 

PERTINENT QUESTIONS 

1. What is the organization in Illinois for studying the records 
of members of the General Assembly and for securing the elec- 
tion of honest, efficient legislators? 

2. Why are the November legislative elections of such impor- 
tance to every citizen of Illinois? 

3. Why does our General Assembly fail to pass laws demanded 
by the people? 

4. Is there a legislative bureau in Illinois to collect information 
for the benefit of members, or to assist them in the preparation 
of bills? 

5. How is a bill introduced in both houses? 

6. Why is minority representation a bad thing? 

7. What is the penalty for accepting a bribe? 

8. What are the arguments against increasing the salary of an 
Illinois legislator? 

9. Give all possible ways a bill may fail. 

10. Give the quickest method by which it may pass. 

11. How can the speaker help pass a bad bill? 

12. Why are committees called " legislative graveyards " ? 

13. What is a senatorial district? How many has Illinois? 

14. What is "gavel rule " ? Lobbying? Log-rolling? 

15. What is "railroading" a bill? 



CHAPTER X 

EXECUTIVE 

References : 

i. State Constitution, Art. v. 

2. Forman: American Republic, ch. xx; Adv. Civics, ch. xxiii. 

3. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 85-90. 

4. Garner : Government in the United States, ch. v ; Supplement, 

Government Illinois, pp. 12-20. 

5. Boynton and Upton: School Civics, Supplement, pp. 40-51. 

6. Guitteau: Government and Politics in United States, ch. x. 

Elected Executives of the State. The State constitu- 
tion declares (Art V, sec. 1) : " The executive department 
shall consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary 
of state, auditor of public accounts, treasurer, superintend- 
ent of public instruction, and attorney general, who shall 
each, with the exception of the treasurer, hold his office 
for the term of four years from the second Monday in 
January next after his election, and until his successor is 
elected and qualified. They shall, except the lieutenant- 
governor, reside at the seat of the government during their 
term of office, and keep the public records, books, and papers 
there, and shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed 
by law." In many respects Illinois' executive department 
is " hydra-headed,'' and therefore lacks unity of action. 
Decentralized power — away from the center — is a favor- 
ite principle of American government, and Illinois only fol- 
lows historic precedent in her executive department. 

151 



152 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

The Governor is the chief executive officer in Illinois. 
He must be at least thirty years of age, and a citizen of the 
United States and Illinois for the five years next preceding 
his election. He is chosen at the general election the first 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the Presi- 
dential election years. His term begins the second Monday 
in January following his election, provided the State legis- 
lature has organized by choosing officers so that in joint 
session it can canvass the votes cast for the executive officers 
and declare them " duly elected." There was a " dead- 
lock " in the House in the 48th General Assembly over the 
election of a speaker, lasting three weeks. In consequence, 
Governor Charles S. Deneen and the other executive officers 
had their terms prolonged because their Democratic suc- 
cessors could not be declared " duly elected/' nor be quali- 
fied for office by giving their bonds and taking the oath 
required of each State officer. 

The governor's salary is fixed by law and is now $12,000 
and the executive mansion at Springfield. 

His Legislative Powers are, (a) to send a message to the 
General Assembly at the beginning of each session; (b) to 
sign or veto bills; 1 (c) to call the Assembly in special or 
extraordinary session whenever, in his judgment, the oc- 
casion requires ; and to adjourn the Assembly to such a time 
as he thinks proper, if the houses disagree over the date, 
provided it is not beyond the first day of the next regular 
session. 

Power of Appointment. With the consent of the Senate, 
the governor may appoint all officers whose appointment or 
election is not otherwise provided for. The Legislature is 

1 For description of his veto power, see p. 145 (How a Bill Becomes 
a Law). 



EXECUTIVE 153 

strictly forbidden by the constitution to elect or appoint any 
such officer, so that it may not usurp the appointing power 
of the governor. 

The number of positions, great and small, filled by ap- 
pointment of the governor, is about five hundred. The 
more important ones are : Offices in the State militia ; 
factory, grain, and mine-inspectors ; members of the geo- 
logical survey, Lincoln Park and West Park Boards in 
Chicago; the fish commission, State charities commission, 
and the Illinois park commission; the State highway de- 
partment, the State board of administration to care for 
the nineteen charitable institutions; members of various 
examining boards for trades, business, or professions li- 
censed, or regulated, by the State, in order to protect the 
lives, health, or property of the citizens, as dentists, pharma- 
cists, architects, doctors (who are examined by the State 
board of health), barbers, plumbers, and a State superin- 
tendent of insurance; trustees for the penal institutions 
and for the five normal schools ; three members of the board 
of pardons; commissioners of labor; five members State 
public utilities commission; State board of arbitration to 
try to prevent strikes by arbitrating the differences at issue 
through State aid; three members of the State mining 
board ; six members of the mine rescue station commission, 
created immediately following the terrible Cherry disaster 
and now maintaining three rescue stations and three mine 
rescue cars in the mining regions of the State; food and 
game commissioners ; four superintendents of the free em- 
ployment agencies. This long list is only a partial one. 
Each session of the Legislature creates new boards and 
commissions that increase the governor's appointing power. 
Keep up with these through the Session Laws published 



154 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

usually by the middle of August of every odd year. 

Power of Removal. The governor himself can be re- 
moved only by impeachment. Charges are preferred 
through a majority vote in the House of Representatives 
and the impeachment is tried by the Senate acting as a 
court of justice. Two-thirds of the senators must con- 
cur to convict. No governor of Illinois has ever been 
impeached. The impeachment and removal from office of 
Governor Sulzer of New York, October 1913, has given 
recent illustration of the danger of this method of trial 
when controlled by the political enemies of the execu- 
tive. 

Pardoning Power. The governor may grant reprieves, 
or delayed sentences, commuted or lessened sentences, and 
full pardons for all offenses committed against the State; 
but he can not grant a pardon before the conviction of the 
offender. He has the advice of the State board of pardons, 
which investigates all applications for pardons, and makes 
recommendations to the governor, but he is not compelled 
to follow their advice. A criminal may also be released 
in other ways. Under the indeterminate sentence and parole 
laws, after serving one year, if his conduct in prison has 
been good, he may be released on parole. If, however, he 
breaks his parole, he may be arrested and made to serve 
out his sentence without a new trial. 

Other Powers. The governor is commander-in-chief 
of the State militia and may call them out in case of strikes 
or mobs. The adjutant-general, whom he appoints, is prac- 
tically the head of the militia. The fighting strength of 
the State or its militia, consists of all able-bodied male per- 
sons between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except 
certain persons exempt by the laws of the United States, 



EXECUTIVE 155 

All such persons enrolled in the militia may be called out 
in time of danger in the State or nation. Usually the mi- 
litia consists of men who voluntarily enroll in the Illinois 
National Guard, of which the governor is commander-in- 
chief, acting through the adjutant-general. All enlistments 
are for three years. There is also a naval branch called 
the Illinois Naval Reserve. 

The governor may request the President of the United 
States to send Federal troops into the State to quell any 
unusual disturbance which the militia cannot control. The 
governor may also request of the President the extradition 
of fugitives from justice who have broken the laws of Illi- 
nois and fled to a foreign country. Persons who have com- 
mitted a crime in Illinois and fled to another State may be 
returned for trial through requisition papers granted by the 
governor of the State to which the fugitive has fled. The 
governor of Illinois must make request for such papers. 

Social and Political Powers. The governor is often the 
head of his political party in the State and has an unrivaled 
opportunity to build up his own " political machine " 
through his control of State patronage, familiarly known 
as the State " plum tree." His influence in his party is 
great because of this appointing power. A State-wide 
civil-service law, vigorously carried out, would do a great 
deal toward correcting this condition and putting the State 
service on a genuinely efficient basis. The present civil- 
service law is excellent as far as it goes ; but it is too limited 
to cover the needs of the State. 

The governor has many social duties in attending all 
kinds of public meetings and opening many conventions 
and conferences; he also welcomes and frequently enter- 
tains distinguished visitors to the State. 



156 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

The Lieutenant-Governor. If the governor is re- 
moved by impeachment, resignation, or death, the lieuten- 
ant-governor succeeds to the office. He must have the same 
qualifications as the governor and is elected at the same time 
for the same term. Whenever the governor is absent from 
the State, the lieutenant-governor acts for him. Governor 
Dunne has been absent from the State, for good reasons, 
a number of times since his inauguration February 191 3. 
Lieutenant-Governor O'Hara has thus been acting governor 
an unusual number of times. The only work required of 
him in the meantime is to preside in the Senate and cast 
a vote if there is a tie. He is not required to reside at 
Springfield during his term. His salary is $2,500. 

The Secretary of State. This elected executive of- 
ficer is custodian of the great seal of Illinois and affixes it 
to all important documents; publishes the laws;. keeps all 
State papers; distributes public documents to any citizens 
requesting them; issues certificates to corporations present- 
ing legal charters; has charge of all State property at 
Springfield. His salary is $7,500 per year. 

The Treasurer has charge of all State funds and pays 
them out on a warrant issued by the auditor. By a re- 
cent law he is required to turn over to the State all inter- 
est allowed by the banks on deposits of State money. 
Formerly he was allowed to retain such interest for his own 
use. His term is tw T o years and he can not serve two con- 
secutive terms. His salary is $10,000 and the bond re- 
quired is $500,000. His large salary is due in part to a 
recognition of the disadvantage he is under through his 
short term. This short term and no immediate chance of 
a second one are among the devices by which Illinois safe- 
guards the public pocketbook. 



EXECUTIVE 157 

Auditor of Public Accounts. He is called the " watch- 
dog of the State treasury " because he is bookkeeper for the 
State and must balance accounts each month with the treas- 
urer. With the governor and the treasurer, he determines 
the tax rate required to raise the amounts appropriated by 
the Legislature. He also issues all warrants on the treas- 
urer for the payment of State money. Salary is $7,500. 

Attorney General. Is the legal adviser of all State 
officers and of the one hundred and two State's attorneys 
who represent the State in the counties. He draws up all 
contracts where the State is a party and prosecutes or de- 
fends all lawsuits for and against the State. His salary is 
$10,000, and this amount is supposed to secure a good 
legal adviser for the State departments. But until the 
voters of the State demand a State government run for 
their interests more than for the politicians of some party, 
we can not expect the best lawyers of the State will be will- 
ing to accept this office, even if the salary is fair compensa- 
tion. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction. Is given under 
Public Education, ch. xii, p. 168. 

These seven elected executive officers are legally quite in- 
dependent of each other although the governor is respon- 
sible for the faithful execution of all the laws and there- 
fore has general oversight of all the departments. The 
heads of departments must make annual reports to the gov- 
ernor and any special reports he may request. 

Would Illinois gain through greater unity in her State 
government? Give two arguments, pro and con, on this 
question. 



158 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

PERTINENT QUESTIONS 

i. If greater unity in State government is desirable, how could 
it be brought about? 

2. Give the historical reason for this universal American prin- 
ciple of " decentralized power " ? 

3. Why are we beginning to question its wisdom for the twen- 
tieth-century State? 

4. Why is it difficult for the governor of Illinois to carry out 
any far-reaching public policy? 

5. What are the constitutional relations between the governor 
and the General Assembly? 

6. How is the governor dependent on the Legislature? 

7. Is the Legislature in any sense dependent on the governor? 

8. How does the State civil-service commission assist the gov- 
ernor ? 

9. It is almost impossible to obtain fresh, up-to-date informa- 
tion from State officers. The reports of State officers and com- 
missions are printed about ten months after the year for which 
they give statistics. How can this very inconvenient custom be 
remedied ? 

10. Who is responsible for the printing of all State reports? 



CHAPTER XI 



STATE JUDICIARY 

References : 

1. Constitution of Illinois, Art. vi. 

2. Revised Statutes, 1912, chap, xxxvii, sees. 1-76. 

3. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 90-94. 

The constitution of Illinois makes definite provision for 
a system of courts, from the highest to the lowest, in the 
following words : 

" The judicial powers . . . shall be vested in one supreme 
court, circuit courts, county courts, justices of the peace, police 
magistrates, and in such courts as may be created by law in and 
for cities and incorporated towns." (Art. vi, sec. 1.) 

To aid in understanding the interrelation of our laws, 
from State to Federal, the following diagram from Guit- 
teau's Government and Politics in the United States, p. 
117, is worth study: 

OUTLINE A. OUR SYSTEM OF LAW. 



Federal 
Constitution 



Federal 
Statutes and Treaties 



State Constitutions 



State Statutes 



Common Law and Equity 



159 



160 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Common Law is the customary, or unwritten, law 
that prevails in this country. It is derived from England, 
and is the great body of English customs, established 
through centuries of usage, brought to America by the 
English colonists, and cherished by them as their most pre- 
cious legal heritage. It has been greatly modified by de- 
cisions of judges in this country and by statutes. In Illi- 
nois the statute provides " that the common law of Eng- 
land so far as applicable, . . . shall be considered as of 
full force until repealed by legislative authority." (Rev. 
Stat., 191 1, ch. xxvii, sec. 1.) 

OUTLINE B. THE COURTS OF ILLINOIS 



State 

Supreme 

Court. 



Four 

Appellate Courts. 

Cook County two 

branch courts also. 



18 Circuit Courts in State 
Three Judges each except 

Cook County, 18th Circuit, has 
14 Judges. 

Cook County has Superior, 
Criminal, Juvenile Courts. 



102 

County Courts 

Seven Counties also Separate Probate Courts 



Municipal Court for Chicago, 31 judges. 
Special City Courts in 19 other cities 



Justices of the Peace Police Magistrates 



STATE JUDICIARY 161 

Equity means justice. " The aid of a court of equity 
is invoked where one has suffered a wrong which no actual 
law forbids, or where there may be complicated account- 
ings too detailed for the swift action of a court of law." 
For instance, you may suffer wrong through the act of some 
agent for your property where he has broken no law and 
yet you have suffered the loss of a large sum of money. 
You would try to recover your money through an equity 
case. In Illinois any court presided over by a judge is 
a " court of law and equity/' but in some of the States there 
are separate courts for the tw r o kinds of causes. An equity 
case is always a civil action. 

United States Courts in Illinois. There are three 
United States district courts, Northern, Southern, and 
Eastern, and a United States circuit court of appeals held 
in Illinois. The United States district court for the north- 
ern district, eastern division (Chicago) has two judges as- 
signed, Judge K. M. Landis and Judge George A. Car- 
penter. The western division of the northern district holds 
court at Freeport. The southern district holds court at 
Springfield and Quincy. The eastern district holds court 
at Danville, Cairo, and East St. Louis. 

The Municipal Court was created by act of the Legis- 
lature for Chicago and under the power of an amendment to 
the State constitution (1904) allowing special legislation for 
Chicago. This municipal court act had to be approved by 
the voters. In addition there are now nineteen small cities 
in the State, as East St. Louis, Peoria, and Springfield, that 
have a special city court having a concurrent jurisdiction 
with the State circuit courts in their respective cities. 

Jurisdiction of a Court may be of four kinds: 
Original, if a case must begin there; appellate, if the case 



1 62 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

has been tried in a lower court and has come up on appeal ; 
concurrent, when there are two or more courts having the 
same kind of jurisdiction, and final, if the case must end in 
that court with no chance of appeal to a higher court. 

In what court in the United States is the jurisdiction al- 
ways final? Has any Illinois court final jurisdiction? 
What courts have no juries? 

The work of the justice of the peace and the police magis- 
trate has already been described. For the municipal court, 
see page 161. 

Lawyers. All lawyers in Illinois must be formally 
admitted to the bar after passing an examination. These 
legal examinations are arranged by the State supreme court, 
and every lawyer in the State admitted to the bar is an of- 
ficer of the court, and must render obedience to the orders 
of the court. Any lawyer, or attorney, who fails to obey 
a court order, or to show proper respect to the judge, or 
to other lawyers in court, may be fined for " contempt of 
court," if the judge chooses to exact such a penalty. Many 
judges, however, tolerate conduct and language in their 
court rooms from lawyers trying cases before them that 
never ought to be permitted. The dignity of our State and 
local courts would be greatly improved if all the judges in 
the lower courts were as particular about the decorum ob- 
served in their court rooms as are the Federal judges. 

Supreme Court. The supreme court is the highest 
in the State : only one court in the land is higher. What 
one? There are seven judges, elected for nine years, first 
Monday in June: one from each of the seven judicial dis- 
tricts into which Illinois is divided. They choose one of 
their number for chief justice. Their sessions are all held 
at Springfield, beginning in October. Their principal, or 



STATE JUDICIARY 163 

" first-hand jurisdiction " is cases involving the constitu- 
tionality of Illinois laws, cases involving taxes, habeas 
corpus, and mandamus cases. Many appealed cases come 
up from the circuit and appellate courts. There is no ap- 
peal from their decisions unless the United States law is 
involved, when the case goes direct to the United States 
Supreme Court. 

Appellate Courts. (Four: two branch courts in Cook 
County.) There are four principal appellate courts and 
two branch courts for Cook County, which makes a dis- 
trict by itself. Three judges are named by the supreme 
court to act as appellate judges in each district from the 
large number of circuit judges elected by the voters. They 
are appointed for three years, but are generally reappointed 
if they do good work. It is counted an honor to be thus 
chosen by fellow judges for the specialized work of the 
appellate court. Cook County, making one of the appellate 
districts, has to have nine judges appointed to care for the 
large number of cases appealed mainly from the municipal 
courts of Chicago. The county pays half the salaries of 
these State judges, who preside in the courts of Cook 
County. There are no juries in the appellate courts and 
nearly all cases tried are those appealed from the county, 
circuit, or municipal courts. 

Circuit Courts. (18.) Illinois is divided into eight- 
een circuits, Cook County making the eighteenth. Three 
judges are elected the first Monday in June from each cir- 
cuit except the eighteenth, and they serve six years. From 
Cook County fourteen judges are elected and the number 
is increased nearly every session of the Legislature. 
Country judges are constantly called to serve in Cook 
County to fill the places of the circuit judges chosen for 



1 64 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

appellate duty. The circuit courts care for the cases ap- 
pealed from the county courts and for any cases arising 
between citizens living in different counties. 

Outline the three State courts, supreme, appellate, and circuit, 
under the following topics : 

1. Composition. 

2. Manner of choosing. 

3. Term of Office. 

4. Jurisdiction. 

a. Original. 

b. Appellate. 

c. Final. 

5. Salary. 



CHAPTER XII 
PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 

References : 

i. Revised Statutes, ch. cxxii (School Laws, our final authority). 

2. Greene : Government of Illinois, pp. 190-205 (a very clear, com- 

plete account). 

3. Boynton : School Civics with Civics of Illinois, pp. 60-63 (brief 

but clear). 

" Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to 
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." 

This sentence from the famous Ordinance of 1787 {Am. 
Republic, p. 50) embodies the principal reasons for the 
free public school system of Illinois as well as the other 
States formed from the Old Northwest Territory. It de- 
serves memorizing by every citizen in the State and is the 
Magna Charta of our public schools. In harmony with 
the Ordinance, the present State constitution says : " The 
General Assembly shall provide a thorough and efficient sys- 
tem of free schools whereby all the children of this State 
may receive a common-school education." (Art. viii, sec. 

School Taxes. Nine-tenths of the money needed to 
support the public schools comes direct from taxes levied 
in each school district. In addition to the local taxes of 
the districts, the State levies a school tax of $3,000,000 

165 



166 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

annually. 1 This is appropriated by the General Assembly 
at each biennial session. The Legislature of 191 1 doubled 
this tax, which helps the less wealthy districts maintain 
better schools. This State school fund is divided by the 
auditor of public accounts among the 102 counties of Illinois 
in proportion to the number of children under twenty-one 
years of age. The county superintendent of each county 
receives his share of the State fund from the county col- 
lector and distributes in turn to the township treasurers in 
the county. The township (school) treasurer then divides 
it between the school districts in his township according to 
the children under twenty-one. 

Permanent School Funds. The same process is used 
in distributing the permanent school funds held by the State. 
The largest of these for the common schools is the Town- 
ship Fund, amounting now to more than fifteen millions. 
By the Enabling Act of 18 18, Section 16, or its equivalent, 
in every township was given by the National Government 
for the support of schools in that township. This grant 
amounted to over one million acres. All of it has now been 
sold except about seven thousand acres, lying principally in 
Chicago. The Chicago schools receive nearly a million 
dollars annually from the rentals of these unsold school 
lands. Their market value is hundreds of millions and in- 
creasing each year. 

In some of the Western States, like Idaho and Wyoming, 
where they have profited by our mismanagement of school 
lands, no district tax is levied, but the schools are run 
entirely from rentals from unsold school lands. 

State School Fund. The second largest permanent 
fund for the common schools is the State school fund. 

2 Act of Legislature, 1913. 



PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 167 

Three per cent., less one-sixth (one-half of one per cent.) 
of the proceeds of the sale of all public lands in Illinois 
was given to the public schools. The one-sixth deducted 
was set aside for higher education. 

The surplus revenue fund is an interesting one because 
of its source. Illinois received nearly half a million dollars 
in 1835 from the National Government when, for the first 
time in its history, the United States was not only free from 
debt, but a capitalist. Congress voted to " permanently 
loan " these surplus millions to the different States, and 
suggested the application of this unexpected cash to the 
school fund; which wise advice Illinois followed. The 
principal of all these funds has been spent by the State long 
ago; but Illinois has pledged her honor to pay to the com- 
mon schools annually the interest on the funds at six per 
cent. 

Higher Education in the State. At the head of Illi- 
nois' system of higher education stands the State Univer- 
sity at Urbana. This great State school, or rather collec- 
tion of schools, owes its existence to a large gift of land 
made by Congress to the loyal States during the Civil War. 
This grant was made for the express purpose of establish- 
ing colleges whose leading object must be to teach " agri- 
culture and the mechanic arts." The result of this wise 
action by Congress was the founding of agricultural col- 
leges in all of the Western States. The Illinois Industrial 
University was founded then as the State's response to this 
offer. The university was reorganized as the " University 
of Illinois " in 1885. 

The University is governed by a board of trustees in- 
cluding the governor, president State Board of Agriculture, 
superintendent of public instruction, and nine men and 



168 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

women elected by the men and women voters of the State. 
The Legislature makes very large appropriations for the 
maintenance of the University in addition to the interest 
received from the permanent funds for higher education. 

There are also five normal schools for the training of 
teachers, located in the different sections of the State, at 
DeKalb, Carbondale, Normal, Macomb, and Charleston. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The 
Siate superintendent of public instruction is the ranking 
school officer in the State, although his actual pow r er is not 
great because the local boards manage the schools in their 
districts quite independently. He is elected for four years, 
in November of the alternate even year. His election is 
planned to come in the even year between the election of 
Presidential electors, to keep the State school offices out of 
politics as far as possible. 

Duties. His duties are mainly advisory. The county 
superintendents report directly to him and he is their legal 
adviser. He must send a biennial report to the governor 
and recommend any changes in the school laws he thinks 
wise; he issues State certificates for ten years and for life 
to teachers who pass certain examinations and is ex-officio 
a member of the University board of trustees. He is con- 
stantly called on to give public addresses on educational 
questions and an able superintendent may thereby exert 
much influence indirectly on the school system of the State. 

County Superintendent. This officer represents the 
State in school matters in the county; is directly responsi- 
ble to the State superintendent, and must report annually to 
him. His salary is paid by the State. He distributes the 
county's share of the annual State school fund of three 
million dollars to the towns in his county ; conducts exami- 



PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 169 

nations and grants certificates to all teachers, who without 
such certificate could not draw salary from the taxes ; holds 
teachers' institutes each summer and other meetings during 
the year ; visits all public schools in the county and suggests 
improvements. He is particularly required to supervise 
and assist the rural schools. A movement has been started 
under the county superintendents to encourage the teaching 
of agriculture and give more practical education to the boy 
and girl in the country. 

Local School Administration. The Illinois school 
law makes the congressional township the school township 
and unit of school government (Rev. Stat., ch. cxxii, sec. 
30). Therefore a school township always coincides with 
some congressional township. Remember, however, the 
school officers are in no sense town officers. The actual 
management of the schools, however, is vested in the school 
district. If the school district contains a thousand people 
there must be a board of education elected by the men and 
women voters of the district. This board shall consist of 
a president, elected for one year, and six members elected 
for three years, the president and two members to be 
chosen annually. There must be three additional members 
for every ten thousand people up to a board of fifteen. 
Cities above one hundred thousand population (Chicago) 
must have a board of education of twenty-one members, ap- 
pointed by the mayor with the consent of the council, for 
three years ; seven to be appointed annually. The board 
selects the president from its own members. This is an 
excellent illustration of the method pursued by the General 
Assembly to evade the provision against special legislation 
in the State constitution. Cities are grouped in classes ac- 
cording to population. In the class referred to above, of 



i;o ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

course Chicago is the only city to qualify. Why not be 
honest and remove from the constitution such a " dead let- 
ter " so far as it affects Chicago, and give that great city 
much needed legislation directly ? 

The board of education in Chicago must get the consent 
of the council to issue bonds, buy or lease school sites, erect 
or purchase school buildings. For the powers and duties 
of the board, see Rev. Statutes, chapter cxxii, sections 178- 
179; also pp. 171, 172 of this book. School boards and di- 
rectors throughout the State have the right to condemn pri- 
vate property for school use if " just compensation is given 
the owner." This is the famous right of eminent domain, 
the right of the " greatest good to the greatest number/' 
and is granted school boards in Illinois directly by law. 
(Rev. Stat., ch. cxxii, sec. 148.) If the owner of the prop- 
erty desired for the use of the schools refuses to accept a 
reasonable price, then condemnation proceedings are begun 
in court; the price may be fixed by a jury and the owner is 
compelled to accept it. This is just, because no individual, 
or group of individuals, ought to block the rights of a larger 
group. The property rights of a private citizen are amply 
protected in the United States constitution. (See Consti- 
tution of the United States, Amendment V.) 

School Township Trustees. Each school township 
elects three trustees as the business officers for its school 
affairs. Their term is three years. One is elected annually 
on the second Saturday of April, by the legal voters of the 
township, men and women. In school townships where 
the boundaries coincide with those of a town, the school 
trustees are elected on the same day as the town officers 
(the first Tuesday in April), for convenience, and to save 
the expense of a separate election. Any resident, twenty- 



PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 171 

one years old, is eligible for the office ; but no two trustees 
shall reside, when elected, in the same school district, nor 
can any person be trustee and director at the same time. 

Duties of School Trustees. The trustees have three 
main duties: (a) To divide the township into school dis- 
tricts for the convenience of those who attend the schools; 
(b) to appoint a township treasurer who handles all school 
funds in the township; (c) to hold all school property, both 
lands and buildings, in their name. They may also estab- 
lish a township high school if the people of the township 
vote for one at an election called for that purpose. 

District Boards of Directors. 2 After a township is 
divided by the trustees into school districts, each having 
less thaa one thousand population (unless it contains an 
incorporated city or village), each district must elect three 
directors who are charged with the management of the dis- 
trict school. Their term is three years and one is chosen 
annually on the third Saturday in April by the legal voters 
of the district, including men and women. Neither trus- 
tees nor directors receive any pay for their services. 
Women are eligible for directors. The board of directors 
must establish and keep in running order one or more free 
schools for at least no days of actual teaching each year, 
to accommodate all children in the district between the ages 
of six (compulsory age is seven) and twenty-one. The 
directors appoint the teachers, fix their salaries, levy the 
school tax for the district, and have entire charge of the 
schools. They are the educational officers for a school dis- 
trict , while the trustees are the business school officers for 
the entire township. 

High Schools. Any school board has the right to es- 
3 Rev. Stat., ch. cxxii, sees. 121-125. 



172 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

tablish a high school to provide the first steps toward higher 
education. The high school is properly named the " peo- 
ple's college/' and ought to be the most democratic school 
in all our system. Public kindergartens, manual training, 
domestic science, music, and drawing may be provided 
under special teachers if the voters of the district so author- 
ize the board through an election. 

Compulsory School Law. School must be held in 
every district at least no days in the year and all children 
between seven and fourteen are compelled to attend under 
penalty. The parents may be brought into court by the 
truant officer and fined if they fail to keep their children 
in school the required months. Children who are feeble- 
minded, blind, or crippled are provided with special instruc- 
tion, or legally excused from attendance. 

Township High Schools. This form of high school 
is in much favor in Illinois. There are about one hundred 
in the State. A township high school is organized, after a 
special election has authorized its establishment, by electing 
a township board of five members, who have full control of 
the high school. The advantages of such a high school are : 
(a) more taxable property, hence larger revenue, better 
buildings, grounds, and equipment; (b) more careful su- 
pervision because the township board gives its time and 
effort to the high school alone; (c) more pupils can attend 
without paying tuition. It also enables the poorer districts 
in a township to unite their funds and get such an advanced 
school, which otherwise they could not afford to have. 
April is the usual month in Illinois for school elections. 
Consult the Revised Statutes, chapter cxxii, for the exact 
Saturday. 

Teachers' Pension Fund. Illinois has a Teachers' 



PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 173 

Pension Fund which may be established by vote of any 
board of education of any city. No district of less than 
a thousand inhabitants can have such a fund and there is 
a law applying to Chicago alone. The fund is created by 
certain amounts deducted from the salaries of all teachers 
in any district where the board has accepted the law 7 passed 
in 191 1. The pension granted after twenty-five years of 
teaching can not exceed four hundred dollars annually. 
(Rev. Stat., ch. exxii, sees. 127 and 152.) 

SUMMARY ILLINOIS SCHOOL SYSTEM BY OUTLINE 

(a) State superintendent (1) 

(b) County superintendents (102) 

(c) School directors (3 in each township) 

(d) Township school trustees (3 in each township) 

(e) Township treasurer (1) 

(f) Board of education (elected) (7-15) 

(g) Board of education (appointed) (21) 

PERTINENT QUESTIONS 

1. Which of these officers are elected? Which appointed? 
Which receive any salary? 

2. To which school offices are women eligible? (Rev. Stat., 
ch. exxii, sec. 290.) 

3. To whom are school taxes paid? 

4. How does a teacher get her salary? 

5. If refused payment, could she legally recover her salary? 

6. How would you secure an athletic field for your school? 

7. How often may text-books be changed in your district? 
(Rev. Stat., ch. exxii, sec. 146.) 

8. How could your township get a township high school? 

9. What difference in government between a township and a 
city high school? 

10. How could your district get a kindergarten? What chil- 
dren could attend it? 



174 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

ii. Do the citizens in your district use the schoolhouse for 
meetings outside of school hours? 

12. If not, why? 

13. Why should the property of a bachelor be taxed to support 
the schools? 

14. Why must the property of a non-resident pay a school tax? 



CHAPTER XIII 
THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 

STATE, COUNTY, AND CITY CIVIL-SERVICE COMMISSIONS 
GENERAL REFERENCES 

1. Edward Cary: The Merit System — The Spoils System. 

2. Elizabeth Luther Cary: A Primer of the Civil Service and 

the Merit System, 

3. Clinton B. Woodruff: The Merit System in Municipalities. 

4. The Business Value of Civil-Service Reform. 

5. Imogen B. Oakley: Spread of Civil-Service Reform Prin- 

ciples through Women's Clubs. 

6. W. W. Vaughan: Every Man on His Own Merits. (These 

are furnished schools by Women's Auxiliary, Massachu- 
setts Civil Service Reform Association — usually without 
charge. Address Miss Marion C. Nichols, 31 Beacon 
Street, Boston, for list of their valuable publications and 
reports. 

SPECIAL REPORTS FOR ILLINOIS 

7. Eighteenth Annual Report Cook County Civil-Service Com- 

mission, September, 1913. 

8. Report, 1912, of Chicago Civil-Service Commission. 

9. Report, 1912, Illinois State Civil-Service Commission. (Send 

to the County, City, or State authorities for these inter- 
esting reports.) 

" Civil-Service Reform has survived the doubts of its friends, as 
well as the rancor of its enemies, and has gained a permanent 
place among the agencies destined to cleanse our politics and to 
improve, economize, and elevate the public service.'' — Grover 
Cleveland. 

175 



176 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

" Civil-Service Reform is as democratic and as American as 
the public-school system." — Theodore Roosevelt. 

Meaning of Civil Service. " The purpose of civil- 
service legislation is to provide a non-political method of 
determining fitness of applicants for public positions, and 
to prevent their removal for any political or religions reason. 
The method of determining fitness for these positions is by 
practical, competitive examinations, open to all citizens alike. 
From these examinations eligible lists are made up by rating 
applicants in the order in which they have passed an ex- 
amination. And from these lists, in the same order, posi- 
tions are filled. 

" The purpose of the plan is to place the public civil 
service on a business-like basis, so that public business may 
be transacted as efficiently and honestly as in any private 
concern!' — First Annual Report of the Illinois Civil-Serv- 
ice Commission. 

History of the Movement. The United States Gov- 
ernment has had a civil-service law — The Pendleton Act 
— since 1883. The spoils system — "to the victor belong 
the spoils of the enemy " — came in under President Jack- 
son, about 1830, and for over half a century that degrad- 
ing, wasteful system of office-holding prevailed throughout 
the country and covered State and local governments as 
well as Federal. 

" Without the shedding of blood there is no remission 
of sins." The American people were at last aroused to the 
dangers of this vicious system by the death of President 
Garfield, shot by a disappointed office-seeker. The Pendle- 
ton Act was the response to awakened public opinion that 
a " public office is a public trust/' and an office-holder only 
a trustee for the public who employs him. 



THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 177 

The post-office department was the first one placed on a 
merit basis, and its great growth in amount of business and 
in efficient service to the people dates from that time. At 
present nearly 260,000 Federal officers are in the classified 
service — about two-thirds of the entire Federal service — 
and the major part of the clerical positions in all ten cabinet 
departments at Washington are under this common-sense 
method of determining fitness to hold government positions. 
Thomas Jefferson's three qualifications for office-holding 
have never been improved on: (1st) Is he honest? (2nd) 
Is he capable? (3rd) Will he be faithful to the constitu- 
tion ? Honesty, efficiency, patriotism — where will you 
find a better official creed? 

City Civil Service. In 1895 the first civil-service law 
in Illinois passed the General Assembly, applicable to cities 
only, and after a referendum vote. Under its provisions 
Chicago and Evanston each adopted civil service and thus 
became the pioneer cities in Illinois to begin the merit sys- 
tem. Chicago has only about fifty positions exempt out 
of its huge pay-roll of 24,000 persons. This does not 
count the school teachers or the judges of the municipal 
court. 

The Chicago civil-service commission has done some 
notable work during its eighteen years of life. The special 
features of its excellent record are: Equal salaries for 
equal duties, or for all employees in the same class; pro- 
motion through examination only and for efficiency alone; 
appropriate examinations, or those having a more direct 
bearing upon the requirements of the position to be filled. 

To examine scrub women in arithmetic and grammar is 
absurd. A test for physical strength and endurance, added 
to some knowledge of practical sanitation, is much more to 



178 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

the point. The Chicago commission proposes to carefully 
adjust its tests to the requirements of the work to be per- 
formed. It is already a pioneer in introducing practical 
tests as a prominent feature of its examinations. These 
are best understood by a few illustrations : 

A bridge-tender is wanted. The commission requires a 
strong man with perfect sight and hearing; the mental ex- 
amination for such a position forms a small part of the 
whole test. Then the appointee is required to take sight 
and hearing tests from time to time, to be sure his eyes and 
ears continue perfectly normal. 

A meat inspector is needed. One day he takes a written 
examination on the theoretical part of his work. The next 
day he is taken to the stock-yards and told to select healthy 
and diseased meats ; if diseased, to state what is the trouble 
and if there is a possible remedy. 

For the fire and police departments fourteen physical 
tests for strength, agility, and endurance are required. A 
given height, weight, girth of chest, and lung expansion 
are also necessary. The result we see in the thirty-five 
hundred Chicago policemen, who are as fine a set of men 
physically as you will find anywhere. To show how this 
weeding process operates, look at one of the examinations 
for patrolmen. Out of eight hundred and forty-eight ap- 
plicants, only about twenty-five per cent, passed all these 
severe tests. 

The Chicago commission also maintains a character-in- 
vestigation department, where the honesty and reputation 
of the applicant is looked up, just as a bonding company 
investigates the character of a prospective bank cashier be- 
fore they will issue a bond for him. A common trick to 
evade civil-service regulations was for a strong man to take 



THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 179 

the physical tests, a bright one the mental examination, and 
an entirely different person — but all three under the same 
name — to get the appointment. This is prevented by the 
system of identification used, where a print of the forefinger 
is made at different times under all these tests, and of course 
must be identical. 

There has been a very decided change in sentiment on 
civil-service questions during the last few years. Formerly 
the merit system was regarded mainly as protecting the 
employee from grasping politicians and spoilsmen. Now 
the viewpoint has shifted to the interests of the tax-paying 
public. The efficiency of the public service is the leading 
object. As the counsel for the Chicago- commission once 
expressed it, " The individual may suffer, but I feel I repre- 
sent and am to safeguard the City of Chicago," — a very 
radical change of sentiment from the welfare of the indi- 
vidual to the benefit of the community, but quite in line with 
the trend of modern thought on many topics. A large num- 
ber of cities in the State now have civil-service commissions 
and have placed their firemen and policemen at least under 
merit rules. 

The Merit System in Cook County. The county 
civil-service commission of three is appointed by the presi- 
dent of the county board for a term of three years; but 
the terms are so arranged that only one commissioner is 
appointed each year. Under the present law the consent 
of the county board is not required. Miss Anna E. Nich- 
oles, secretary of the present commission, appointed by Pres- 
ident McCormick, February 1, 1913, is the first woman 
civil-service commissioner in Illinois and the second in the 
United States. The charitable institutions of Cook County 
were first placed under the merit system in 1895; but for 



180 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

nearly eight years the administration of the law was only 
a joke. The fact that not even a stenographer was em- 
ployed by the civil-service commission is proof the law was 
a dead letter. Then public opinion began to demand better 
enforcement of the law. The account that follows was 
largely taken from the admirable Eighteenth Annual Re- 
port of the Cook County Civil-Service Commission just 
issued (September 1913). 

Purpose of the Act. " The purpose of the County 
Civil-Service Act is to maintain a system of employment 
in the various county offices and institutions, based solely 
on merit and efficiency. Positions in the county service are 
not owned by the successful candidates or political leaders 
who happened to have a majority of the votes at the last 
election, but belong to the whole people of the county. 
Every citizen, according to his ability to do the work re- 
quired in the county service, should have exactly the same 
opportunity for employment possessed by any other citizen. 
The examinations, which test ability, should be practical 
and impartial tests, directed to the sole question of relative 
fitness to perform the duties of the position. The county 
hospital requires doctors ; the State's attorney, lawyers ; the 
county treasurer, clerks; and the county recorder, record 
writers. Appointments to these or other county positions 
ought never to be based upon service in a ward club, or upon 
supposed loyalty to a factional political leader. Politics has 
nothing whatever to do with a doctor's care of the sick, 
with the prosecution of crime, with the making out of tax 
bills, or the writing up of titles to real estate. Ability to do 
the work required, as measured by reasonable standards of 
efficiency, is under the Civil-Service Act made the sole basis 
of public employment. The elimination under persistent 



THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 181 

and systematic treatment of inefficient employees and of 
conditions of employment which breed waste and ineffi- 
ciency are alike a benefit to the public and to the public em- 
ployees/' 

A sweeping civil-service law, putting all the large fee 
offices under merit rule, was passed by the Legislature in 
1911. 

The Exempt Service. " On the 20th of February, 
1913, these great fee offices of the county, the county treas- 
urer, the county clerk, the sheriff, the offices of the clerks 
of the circuit, superior, county, probate, and criminal courts, 
the election commission, the State's attorney's office, the 
assessor's office, the board of review, the coroner's office, 
and the recorder's, became exempt from the provisions of 
the Civil-Service Act because the supreme court found that 
the Legislature had failed to print some forty words of the 
191 1 Act. A new civil-service act, so worded it will stand 
the test of the supreme court and be declared constitutional, 
that will place these great fee offices under merit rule, is 
one of the imperative needs of Cook County. It is esti- 
mated a half million dollars annually could easily be saved 
the tax-payers through such a law honestly enforced." 

A recent illustration of the truth of this estimate is 
furnished by the county agent's office. Before an examina- 
tion was required, forty-five investigators were employed 
to determine the condition of persons applying for county 
poor relief. After examination, only seven were found 
necessary to handle all such investigations. 

How the Spoils System Works. " The system under 
which appointments are now made to the exempt offices 
does not differ much from the system in vogue for twenty 
years past. Candidates for office are usually asked to sign 



■i82 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

the customary pledge to place all positions in their depart- 
ments at the disposal of the County Central Committee of 
the party winning the election. Some department heads 
may succeed, after negotiation, in retaining a few positions 
for their personal friends and helpers. Necessity compels 
the retention of a few old employees who are familiar with 
the routine work of an office." For example, since the last 
county election, less than a dozen experienced employees 
out of an office force of over seventy, were retained by the 
board of assessors to do the very important work of assess- 
ment of property in the richest county in the State. 

" The agreement is usually enforced that the great bulk 
of the county positions shall be pooled in the hands of the 
County Committee. The County Committee allots these 
positions, graded according to salary, to the various party 
leaders, according to the size and nature of the party vote 
polled in their districts. Factional differences modify the 
size of certain shares, but the principle of allotment has been 
maintained. When a vacancy in the county service occurs, 
the privilege of filling it belongs of right to a particular 
party leader. He, in turn, has obligations in the wards 
and precincts under him. Grotesque misfits of men in posi- 
tions where the only thing they understand is the salary 
attached, are the inevitable consequences of this system. 

" A burdensome political obligation is placed upon county 
employees in the exempt service. Though they are paid 
from the county treasury, a considerable part of their time 
is devoted to partisan work. An employee must be able 
to ' deliver his precinct/ or to show a certain number of 
votes in it, if he expects to retain his position. Increase in 
salary and promotion depend on the same practical test. 
His job is always at stake. He will be dropped from the 



THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 183 

pay roll if he fails to deliver the requisite number of votes. 
There are about forty thousand public employees within the 
geographical limits of Cook County. A civil-service law 
is the only barrier against the exploitation of these men 
and women for political purposes. Until such a law is ap- 
plied to all these positions, the voters of Cook County have 
but a slender chance to determine real political issues, or to 
decide upon the relative merits of candidates for elective 
offices. " 

The Illinois primary law is at present a party measure, 
and nomination by petition the only chance for a non-parti- 
san candidate. But such a candidate has slender chance 
of winning at the polls when he must overcome the strenu- 
ous partisan work of a crowd of office-holders whose 
" jobs " depend on the success of their party. 

One of the important sections in every civil-service law 
forbids an employee from electioneering of all kinds, nor 
can he be compelled to contribute to any campaign fund. 
His time and his pocketbook are thus protected from the 
raids of candidates for the elective offices. " That the 
merit system of Cook County has survived the attacks of 
its enemies is proof of the soundness of its principles. 
Twice the people of the county have endorsed the merit sys- 
tem; the last time in 1 910 by a majority of nearly 100,000 
votes." There are now (October 1913), 1,074 positions 
in the classified service, or places under the civil-service law. 
One great evil is usually the large number of temporary 
appointments — those made for sixty days — without the 
applicant passing any examination. Sometimes these ap- 
plications are renewed so many times that the position really 
becomes " exempt," and persons who have honestly passed 
an examination and been placed on the eligible list are 



184 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

thereby kept out of an office to which they are entitled. 
When the present county civil-service commission began 
work (March i, 1913), there were 462 temporary appoin- 
tees in a charity service of 1,074 positions. By holding 1 1 1 
examinations in six months, they have reduced the tempo- 
rary appointees to 147 out of a charity service of 1,074 
persons. This is one of the vital tests of an honestly 
enforced civil-service law. Measured by this standard, as 
well as other tests, the outlook for the merit system in Cook 
County has brightened remarkably in 191 3, in spite of the 
decision of the Illinois supreme court. 1 

The Merit System in the State. The youngest of the 
civil-service acts of Illinois, that of 1905, is the State Act, 
when the General Assembly by statute applied the merit 
system to the seventeen charitable institutions of the State. 
The present number of such institutions is twenty-one. 
This law was a hard-won victory for civil-service reform 
after a long struggle in the Legislature, and was only a 
shred of the original bill introduced. The only positions 
exempt in the charity institutions are the superintendents 
of the State hospitals and State schools, whose important 
places are still regarded as " spoils of office/' to the dis- 
grace of the State. A list of the State charitable institu- 
tions and their locations will be found in the chapter on 
State Charity Service, pp. 196 and 197. 

The State of Illinois cares for about 18,000 dependents 
in the State institutions. By far the largest number are 
insane patients, cared for in the eight State hospitals, and 

1 The valuable Eighteenth Annual Report of the Cook County Civil- 
Service Commission is largely the work of its president, Robert Cather- 
wood. Other members of the commission are Miss Anna E. Nicholes, 
secretary, and W. F. Corby. Each member receives $1,500 salary. 



THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 185 

a ninth is being built at Alton for the same class of State 
wards. The protection of these helpless men and women 
from political employees, and their wiser, more humane 
treatment, were the principal reasons for the adoption of the 
Illinois Civil-Service law of 1905. The entire treatment 
of the insane in our State has been revolutionized since that 
year. 

Illinois was the first State to introduce oral examinations 
in connection with the written and physical tests required. 
For such positions as house-father and house-mother at 
the reform schools the personal qualities, tact, and common- 
sense of the applicants count far more than any mental test. 
These qualities can be determined better by a personal in- 
terview than in any other way. The Illinois commission 
has developed a practical system for such interviews, always 
providing a stenographer to record every question and an- 
swer, and keeping all such records as part of the examina- 
tion. 

At the State Eye and Ear Infirmary in Chicago the entire 
staff of oculists and aurists, about eighty, serve without pay, 
and yet submit to a hard written examination, and then are 
taken on some designated day into the clinic room and all 
the cases for that day, nearly one hundred, are put under 
their charge to test their practical skill. These applicants 
perform all operations under the eye of skilled specialists, 
who of course take care no harm comes to any patient 
through the awkwardness or ignorance of the candidate 
for a staff position. The doctors estimate it is worth ten 
thousand dollars a year to be known as a member of the 
operating staff of the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, so 
they can well afford to give their services to the State for a 
term of years. 



1 86 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

The most recent example of a practical examination con- 
ducted by the State Civil-Service Commission was one for 
grain-inspectors. The management of this examination 
was turned over to the grain-committee of the Chicago 
Board of Trade, and they were told to give exactly the kind 
of test they would in their own private business. After 
writing on certain questions, the applicants were given 
twenty-seven samples of wheat, oats, barley, corn, and rye, 
and were obliged to test them and grade them according 
to their knowledge gained through previous experience in 
handling grain. The type of grain-inspector selected 
through such an examination shows its practical common- 
sense. 

Conclusion. A good law is recognized by its foes as 
well as its friends. The professional politician, the man 
who desires office solely for what he can get out of it, the 
old-time spoilsman, these men of course will fight the merit 
system. But in their opposition, if they only can be com- 
pelled to come into the open and declare their real senti- 
ments, they will reveal themselves so unmistakably that their 
constituents will know beyond a shadow of a doubt what 
manner of public servants they are. Here lies the great 
benefit of a roll-call vote on an important measure, in the 
General Assembly, and why the legislators avoid its tell- 
tale black and white evidence whenever possible. To the 
mass of private citizens there is much calm satisfaction in 
watching the struggles of certain unfortunate law-makers, 
impaled like flies on pins, when they are caught in a roll- 
call vote. 

Keep a sharp lookout on the State senator and the three 
representatives from your district for their vote on every 
civil-service bill. Watch their record on the roll calls as 



THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS 187 

reported in the daily papers and the bulletins of the Legis- 
lative Voters' League, and judge the men by this touchstone 
of good citizenship. 

PERTINENT QUESTIONS 

1. Why are so many politicians against the merit system? 

2. How will the tax-payer be benefited by an honestly enforced 
civil-service law? 

3. Give six arguments in favor of the merit system. 

4. Can you give any good argument in favor of the spoils sys- 
tem? 

5. Why is this method of office-holding called the " spoils sys- 
tem " ? 

6. Show how the name fits the act. 

7. How does the merit system protect the office-holder? 

8. What are political assessments? 

9. What is meant by electioneering? Can you give an actual 
illustration of it? 

10. What do you consider the best way to select a civil-service 
commission ? 

11. If the civil-service commissioners are mere political ap- 
pointees, what evils result? 

12. Whom does the "exempt" office-holder obey? Whom does 
he serve? Who pays his salary? What kind of public service 
will he give? 



CHAPTER XIV 

STATE CHARITY SERVICE 

References : 

i. Revised Statutes, ch. xxiii, 1-50. 

2. Annual Reports Board of Administration, Address Secretary, 

James Hyland, Springfield, 111. 

3. Annual Reports State Charities Commission, address Secretary, 

A. L. Bowen, Springfield. 

4. Institution Quarterly (Official organ of the public charity service 

of Illinois) : published jointly by Board of Administration, 
Charities Commission, and Psychopathic Institute; editor, A. 
L. Bowen, Springfield. The quarterly is furnished free of 
charge to any citizen of Illinois who wishes regular informa- 
tion regarding Illinois' public charity service. 

5. Greene: Government of Illinois, ch. xii, "Wards of the State." 

(Read this chapter if possible.) 

THE PLATFORM OF PRINCIPLES OF ILLINOIS' CHARITY LAW 

" To provide humane and scientific treatment and care 
and the highest degree of individual development for the 
dependent wards of the State; 

" To provide for delinquents such wise conditions of 
modern education and training as will restore the largest 
possible portion of them to useful citizenship; 

" To promote the study of the causes of dependency and 
delinquency and mental, moral, and physical defects, with 
a view to cure and ultimate prevention ; 

" To secure the highest attainable degree of economy in 
the business administration of the State institutions con- 
sistent with the objects above enumerated, and this Act, 

188 



STATE CHARITY SERVICE 189 

which shall be known as the code of charities of the State of 
Illinois, shall be liberally construed to these ends," (Rev. 
Stat, ch. xxiii, sec. 2.) 

State Board of Administration. The amended char- 
ity law of Illinois, in force July 1, 191 2, is worth study. 
It is necessary first to understand the legal machinery pro- 
vided in the Act to carry out its purpose as stated in the 
preamble. At the head stands the State Board of Admin- 
istration of five members to manage the twenty-one char- 
itable institutions supported by the State. The five mem- 
bers of this board are appointed by the governor with con- 
sent of the Senate, for six years, and not more than three 
can be of the same political party. They are each paid 
$6,000 per year and actual traveling-expenses. The exec- 
utive secretary and all the employees of the board are un- 
der civil-service rules, but not the members of the board 
itself. These positions are still part of the governor's 
patronage. Headquarters are at Springfield and the mem- 
bers of the board must give their entire time to their duties. 
Illinois began the experiment of a single board instead of 
one for each institution, January 1, 19 10, and the success 
gained in more economical, efficient management is bring- 
ing the State charity service slowly but steadily to a higher 
grade. 

State Charities Commission. The same law that es- 
tablished the Board of Administration (January 1, 1910), 
also created a State Charities Commission of five members, 
appointed by the governor, with consent of the Senate, but 
serving without compensation except necessary traveling 
expenses. Their term is five years. The secretary of State 
must provide the commission with an office, stationery, and 
office supplies. Their headquarters are at Springfield and 



i 9 o ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

they have a paid executive secretary who is under the civil 
service. Their duties are " to visit and investigate the 
whole system of public charitable institutions of Illinois." 

The duties of the Board of Administration and of the 
Charities Commission are not the same. The members of 
each are required by the law to visit at unexpected times, 
both day and night, all the charitable institutions of the 
State at least every quarter. But the field of work for the 
Board of Administration is principally financial and execu- 
tive, the buying of all supplies, care of the land and build- 
ings, the business and property side of the institution ; while 
the Charities Commission is charged with the oversight of 
the patients, inmates, and children cared for ; to see that they 
are humanely treated and placed where, if improvement is 
possible, they may have a chance for recovery. Such mat- 
ters as the physical condition of patients, their food, cloth- 
ing, cleanliness, medical care, recreation, employment, if 
able to work, course of study in the schools, kind of teachers, 
discipline, — all these things are inspected, complaints heard 
and investigated by the Charities Commission and their 
secretary, who gives his entire time to this work and is a 
man thoroughly trained in public charity service. To see 
that the kitchen, dining-room, dormitory, laundry, bath- 
room, cellar, storeroom, hospital ward, and schoolroom of 
every State charitable institution is in good condition and 
suited to the needs of the patients and inmates is a very 
important work, difficult to do. The Charities Commission 
investigates and reports to the Board of Administration 
what they find and how conditions may be improved at the 
nineteen charitable institutions now established. The new 
State hospital for the insane at Alton has not yet been built, 
nor the Surgical Institute for Crippled Children even 



STATE CHARITY SERVICE 191 

located. A State colony for improvable epileptics is also 
to be established. After a campaign of nearly twenty years, 
the Legislature has made the first available appropriation 
of $300,000 for the site and buildings. 

The State Board of Administration appoint the superin- 
tendents of all the charitable institutions and may remove 
them at pleasure, as they are not protected by the civil 
service — a point that needs reform. The legal power of 
control, of course, is vested in the Board of Administration, 
while the Charities Commission has only visitorial and ad- 
visory power. The law states that " five persons " and 
" reputable citizens " are to compose the board and commis- 
sion. At present no woman is a member of either, but 
there is nothing in the wording of the law to prevent a 
woman serving, and these positions are ones particularly 
adapted to women, and where the services of the mother, 
the housewife, and home-maker would be of special benefit 
to the unfortunate wards of the State. 

Boards of Visitors. In addition to the Board of Ad- 
ministration and the Charities Commission just described, 
the law provides a board of three visitors, one of whom shall 
be a woman, for each one of the nineteen charitable institu- 
tions; to be appointed by the governor and serve without 
any pay except actual traveling expenses. These three 
visitors must make thorough monthly inspection of the in- 
stitution and report their findings to the State Charities 
Commission within ten clays of their visit. Generally the 
board of visitors live near the institution and therefore will 
feel a local pride and interest in helping the superintendent 
through kindly suggestion and advice to keep the institu- 
tion up to the best standard of service. Any unkindness to 
patients and inmates will be more quickly detected and 



192 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

stopped if these monthly inspections are conscientiously 
made. 

Complete State Care of the Insane. July i, 191 2, the 
Board of Administration assumed control of the Cook 
County asylum for the insane at Dunning. There were 
about 2,800 patients in the asylum. The legal name is now 
the Chicago State Hospital. At last Illinois has complete 
care of the insane within her borders. Even those in pri- 
vate sanitariums are supervised by the Board of Adminis- 
tration, as no such private hospital can receive patients suf- 
fering from any mental or nervous disease without a license 
from the State Board, which can be revoked at any time the 
hospital fails to come up to the standard of care set by the 
board. 

There are at present (October 1913), over 14,000 insane 
men, women, and children in the eight State hospitals, out 
of more than 18,000 State w T ards in all the charitable insti- 
tutions. (See Annual Report Board of Administration 
1913, p. 8.) When the new hospital being built at Alton 
is finished, it will provide for 1,500 more. The average 
annual increase in the number of insane in Illinois has been 
estimated at 400 (Second Annual Report State Charities 
Commission, 191 1, p. 65). This means Illinois must build 
a new, expensive hospital every two years if the State keeps 
pace with the increase in mental disease. By far the 
heaviest burden on the tax-payers for the charity service of 
the State is imposed by the care of this unfortunate class. 

Psychopathic Institute. This fact makes the scien- 
tific study of the cause and cure of insanity carried on at 
the State Psychopathic (mental disease) Institute of very 
great value. The institute also provides invaluable train- 
ing for the doctors at the State hospitals, who are all 



STATE CHARITY SERVICE 193 

encouraged to take a six-weeks' course in the institute every 
year. They are working toward a solution of the big 
problems, "What causes insanity?" " Is it curable?" 
" If so, how? " The facts just stated from the records of 
the State hospitals emphasize the importance of sound men- 
tal habits to every one. The constant practice of a few sim- 
ple, well-established rules of mental hygiene would help de- 
crease this great Illinois army of the mentally sick by 
diminishing the supply. "Beware of alcohol! Be clean 
in mind and body. Be temperate in work and recreation. 
Don't worry. Look on the bright side of all your troubles." 

All the State hospitals have training schools for nurses 
and attendants. Dental service is now provided in all the 
State institutions. 

State Institutions for Children. The State of Illinois 
has assumed complete care of the blind, deaf, delinquent 
feeble-minded child, of the dependent child in the poor 
house, and of the soldiers' orphan. A list of all these insti- 
tutions is found at the end of this chapter and should be 
studied. The Surgical Institute for Crippled Children and 
the Illinois State Colony for Improvable Epileptics are to 
be founded within the next few years. 

The Colony for Epileptics is to be a farm colony located 
on a thousand-acre tract of suitable land to give all the 
out-door employment possible to the inmates. The build- 
ings are to be only two stories and of fire-proof construction. 
There are to be inclines instead of stairs in all the buildings 
and every possible precaution used to prevent the epileptics 
housed in these cottages from injuring themselves in their 
seizures. It is hoped the Board of Administration will 
make all reasonable speed in getting this much-needed in- 
stitution ready for use. It is estimated there are now in 



i 9 4 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Illinois at least ten thousand persons suffering from epilepsy, 
and their need of State care is very great. Only young 
people and cases possible to cure will be cared for at this 
new farm colony. 

Care for the Blind. In addition to the State school 
for blind children at Jacksonville and the Industrial 
Home for the Blind in Chicago, there is a new work being 
undertaken throughout the State to teach blind men and 
women in their homes. Teachers are sent to these adult 
blind on request and a very excellent work has been begun. 
Illinois has an excellent record for its very humane care 
of the blind. 

Soldiers' Homes. Illinois is generous in her care of 
the old soldier and sailor, too feeble to work. The State 
also makes special provision, in separate homes, for the 
widow of the man who has fought for his country, and for 
his orphaned children. " These provisions for veterans 
and their families may be regarded not as charity in the 
ordinary sense but as the discharge of a public debt." 
(Greene, Government of Illinois, p. 168.) 

Delinquent Boys and Girls. The St. Charles School 
for Boys is on the cottage plan ; has a large farm connected 
with the institution and cares for about six hundred delin- 
quent boys. A few miles away, at Geneva, is the State 
Training School for Girls, where delinquent girls are cared 
for, educated, and trained for some useful occupation wdien 
they leave the institution at twenty-one. By good conduct 
a girl may earn a much shortened sentence. 

Poor Relief. The State requires the counties to care 
for the pauper class, or dependent poor. This includes all 
persons who for any reason are not able to support them- 
selves and have no family or relatives to care for them. 



STATE CHARITY SERVICE 195 

The county may build an infirmary, or poor house, located 
on a farm owned by the county ; or the persons to be pro- 
vided for may be " boarded out " with some citizen of the 
county. This method is rapidly being abandoned as ex- 
pensive and not very humane, because of the natural desire 
to make all the money possible out of the county paupers. 
Instead the counties are building county infirmaries to house 
and feed their poor who must be cared for in an institution. 
In counties under township organization, the town super- 
visors act as overseers of the poor and may give " out-door 
relief " in their homes, or send the dependent poor to the 
County Home, or infirmary, as seems best. The universal 
dread of this institution in the minds of the self-respecting 
poor is the best comment on its general reputation and 
plainly shows where public charitable methods need revision. 
Where poverty is the result of sickness, accident, or mis- 
fortune, why should the victim feel so disgraced if com- 
pelled to enter the county poor house that many times an 
assumed name is given on entrance for fear some former 
acquaintance may discover the compulsory retreat ? On the 
other hand, public charity is too often abused by the vicious, 
the lazy, and the " political poor," who are able to care for 
themselves, or have relatives who should be compelled to 
assume the burden of their support. The sensible, humane 
poor master has a difficult problem to solve in sifting out 
the " wheat from the chaff " in the human rubbish heap 
with which he must deal. In the non-township counties, 
the county board appoints a " justice of the peace or other 
suitable person " to serve as overseer or poor master. 

Greatest Need of the Charity Service. The charity 
service of Illinois costs about three million dollars a year, 
exclusive of the large sums spent by the counties in poor 



196 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

relief, and the Board of Administration is responsible for 
the wise use of this large sum. The board is trustee for all 
the property of these nineteen institutions, which is valued 
at fourteen million dollars. This large investment in land, 
buildings, equipment, and the millions spent each year from 
the taxes, represent the sincere effort of this great State to 
give wise, kindly care to the eighteen thousand unfortunate 
wards within its borders. There should be no politics 
allowed in this care for the insane, blind, deaf, feeble- 
minded, and delinquent. Public opinion should demand of 
the governor absolutely non-partisan, merit appointments 
to the Board of Administration. Citizens should serve 
notice on every governor of Illinois that the positions on 
the board can not be used to reward his political friends. 
The Board of Administration never ought to be considered 
a part of the " spoils of office." It goes without saying 
that no superintendent of any State charitable institution 
ought to be dependent on the election returns for his tenure 
of office. Yet this has always been the case, and it is true 
now. The superintendents of these institutions usually con- 
form to the politics of the party in power and change with 
the downfall of the party. The sooner Illinois protects the 
heads of her charitable institutions, particularly the superin- 
tendents of the State hospitals for the insane, by a civil- 
service law, the sooner the State institutions will move 
toward the place Illinois ought to take in the care of the de- 
pendent wards of the State. 

STATE CHARITY SERVICE 
State Charitable Institutions and Their Locations 

Lincoln State School and Colony (for feeble-minded) ... .Lincoln 
Illinois School for the Deaf Jacksonville 



STATE CHARITY SERVICE 197 

The Illinois School for the Blind Jacksonville 

Illinois Industrial Home for the Blind. 

Chicago, cor. Douglas Boulevard and 19th St. 

The Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Quincy 

The Soldiers' Widows' Home of Illinois Wilmington 

The Illinois Soldiers' Orphans' Home Normal 

The Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. 

Chicago, 904 W. Adams St. 

The State Training School for Girls Geneva 

The St. Charles School for Boys St. Charles 

State Psychopathic Institute (for study of the causes and pos- 
sible cure of insanity. A similar institute is needed at the 

Chicago State Hospital at Dunning) Kankakee 

Illinois Surgical Institute for Children Not located 

(The law creating this " Surgical Institute for Crippled Children " 
requires a donation of 160 acres of land for a site from the community 
where it is located. No city, village, or country district in the State 
has yet offered this prize. There is great need for this institute where 
a crippled child under fourteen could be placed for surgical treatment, 
which would probably save such a child from becoming a public 
charge.) 

For Care of the Insane 

Elgin State Hospital Elgin 

Kankakee State Hospital Kankakee 

Jacksonville State Hospital Jacksonville 

Anna State Hospital Anna 

Watertown State Hospital Watertown 

Peoria State Hospital (for chronic or incurable cases) . . . .Peoria 

Chester State Hospital (criminal insane) Menard 

Chicago State Hospital (since July 1, 1912) Dunning 

New State Hospital (being built) Alton 



CHAPTER XV 
AMENDMENT OF THE ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION 

Constitution, Article XIV 

I. FIRST, OR CONVENTION METHOD. 

A. Proposal. 

i. By a two-thirds vote in both houses of the General Assem- 
bly to submit the question of a constitutional conven- 
tion to the people at next general election. . 

2. Submitted to people at such election: total majority of all 

votes cast at the election must be favorable to the con- 
vention. 

3. General Assembly must in that case at next session provide 

for such convention by law. 

4. Number of delegates must be double the number in the 

Senate (102), to be elected in the same manner, place, 
time, and districts as State senators. 

5. Convention to meet within three months and frame a new 

constitution 

B. Ratification. 

Submitted to people at special election: total majority of all 
votes cast at that election must be favorable to the new 
constitution or it will fail of adoption. 

This method would take about six years and requires a vote 
in two sessions of the Legislature and at a general and a 
special election by the people. 
198 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION 199 

II. SECOND METHOD OR " SHORT CUT." 

A. Proposal. 

Single amendment at a time. 

Must be by two-thirds vote in both houses. 

B. Ratification. 

Total majority of all the votes cast at the next general elec- 
tion must be in favor of proposed amendment if it is 
carried. Is printed on separate or " little ballot.'' 

C. Restrictions on this method of amending: 

1. Only one amendment may be proposed by General Assem- 

bly at any one session. 

2. Assembly may not offer an amendment to the same article 

oftener than once in four years. 

A constitution nearly fifty years old, made in the nine- 
teenth century, for a State with only 2,500,000 people, can 
not suit the unforeseen needs of the twentieth century and 
a population close to six millions. 

Could a constitution be nailed down any tighter than 
Illinois' ? How many years will it take to get the amend- 
ments needed if Illinois has the constitutional dress she ab- 
solutely requires ? The present constitution " was born 
before the trolley, the electric light, the telephone, the auto- 
mobile, the sky-scraper. These familiars of our daily life 
were unknown to the framers of the constitution." 

To " amend the amending clause " — Article XIV — al- 
lowing a number of amendments to be submitted to the 
people at once, has been proposed as a practical " short 
cut " through part of our difficulties. But it would give us 
only temporary, partial relief. In the end our necessi- 
ties would compel us to resort to a constitutional conven- 
tion to obtain simplicity and flexibility of form and relief 



200 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

from too many independent taxing bodies. The demand 
for a constitutional convention is being heard most per- 
sistently from the northern half of the State, particularly 
in Chicago and Cook County, where three hundred and 
seventy separate taxing bodies, with widely varying rates, 
lead to great confusion in government and waste of public 
money. 

An editorial in the Chicago Tribune, October 23, 19 13, 
entitled, " Give Us a Convention," is of interest on this 
point. A constitutional convention is urged " at the earli- 
est practical date as the surest means of obtaining addi- 
tional charter power for the city and as the only means of 
securing the power to consolidate the three municipalities " 
(Chicago, Cook County, sanitary district). 

The council is urged to petition the governor of Illinois 
to call a special session of the Legislature " to consider the 
supreme need for holding a constitutional convention." 

" But Chicago ought not to look at the constitutional con- 
vention proposal from a selfish point of view. We are 
citizens of the State and the State needs constitutional re- 
lief. Not only Chicago, but the State, has long outgrown 
the constitution of 1870, and while our needs may be more 
dramatic and urgent, they are not more real than those of 
the entire State." 



CHAPTER XVI 
ILLINOIS MOVING FORWARD 

Illinois has the honor to be the first State east of the 
Mississippi to grant the ballot to women. This makes the 
tenth State in the Union to give " votes to women." Al- 
though not full suffrage, it grants greatly enlarged powers 
to women. A description of the essential parts of this 
famous law follows : 

"The Woman Suffrage Law. Since 1891 Illinois 
women have been allowed to vote for all school officers 
except State and County Superintendent of Schools. 

' The Illinois legislature of 1913 extended to women the 
right to vote for the following named officers : Presiden- 
tial Electors, Member of the State Board of Equalization, 
Clerk of the Appellate Court, County Surveyor, Members 
of Board of Assessors, Members of Board of Review, San- 
itary District Trustees, all officers of cities, villages and 
towns (except police magistrates), Supervisor, Town Clerk, 
Assessor, Collector and Highway Commissioner and also 
the right to vote upon all questions or propositions submit- 
ted to a vote of the electors of any municipality or other 
political division of the State. 

' The wording of the law is such that some officers, like 
city judges, municipal court judges, commissioners in cities 
under a commission form of government, forest preserve 
president and commissioners, park commissioners and road 
district clerk, not common to every city, district or town 

201 



202 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

are really covered by the law, because such officers are city 
officers or town officers, or to be voted for by ' legal voters.' 

" The same legislature also enacted a law allowing 
women to vote at primaries for the officers named above. 

" Other semi-official persons like delegates and alternates 
to national nominating conventions, members of state cen- 
tral committee, precinct and ward committees may also be 
voted for by women. Women may hold any of these 
offices because the word " male " is not used in describing 
the qualifications of the officer. Women are eligible to ap- 
pointive positions and deputyships. 

" The women privileged to vote must be either native 
born or naturalized citizens of the United States, having 
resided in the State one year, in the county ninety days and 
in the election district thirty days next preceding any elec- 
tion therein, and they must be registered in the same man- 
ner in which men are registered. 

" The days for registration precede the primaries and 
elections by three weeks and are advertised beforehand. 

" The city and school elections generally occur annually 
in April and the county and State elections biennially in 
November, though special elections may be called, for other 
dates. 

" The statute provides for separate ballots and ballot 
boxes in order that the women may not vote for all the 
officers for whom men vote. There is a similar provision 
in the school suffrage law of 1891, as the legislature has 
no power to extend suffrage to women for officers men- 
tioned in the constitution. Men only are now allowed to 
vote for the most of the State officers, county officers, 
judges, members of congress and the State legislature. To 
give women the same rights, the Illinois constitution must 



ILLINOIS MOVING FORWARD 203 

be amended. Such an amendment, if submitted to the peo- 
ple by a vote of two-thirds of the 191 5 legislature, that is, 
by thirty- four senators and one hundred and two repre- 
sentatives, and then voted for by a majority of all vot- 
ing at the November 1916, election would become a 
part of the constitution and fully enfranchise Illinois 
women." x 

State Aid Good Roads Law. The new State Aid 
Good Roads law, in effect July 1, 191 3, creates a new State 
Highway Department of five commissioners, two of whom 
must be engineers. Their term is six years, and the gov- 
ernor appoints them. They will supervise all roads built 
with State aid, prepare a uniform plan of construction, and 
a road map for the State. The county board of each county 
must appoint a county superintendent of highways for six 
years from a certified list submitted by the State commis- 
sion. This superintendent of highways will oversee the 
construction of the State roads in the county, advise the 
State commission of any peculiar local conditions in that 
county, and act as a State agent for the commission. Cer- 
tain highways in the county are designated by the county 
board as " State Aid roads," subject to the approval of the 
State commission, which is responsible for making the vari- 
ous county roads fit into the general plan. The State pays 
half the cost of construction of such highways and also 
bears the entire cost of keeping them in repair. 

Each township or road district, if in a county not under 
township organization, decides by referendum vote whether 
it wants one highway commissioner or three to look after 

1 This material is taken from a pamphlet, " The A. B. C. of Woman's 
Suffrage Rights in Illinois," by Catharine Waugh McCulloch, and is 
used through the courtesy of the author who is also author of the law. 



204 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

its country roads, except the State Aid roads. 2 This is the 
worst feature of the law, because the county ought to be 
the center of local management as well as construction. 
Not more than twenty-five per cent, of the total mileage 
of country roads in any county can be State Aid roads. 
There is no aid for roads in cities or villages. 

Funds. The funds come from three sources : The 
State automobile tax, which now amounts to $800,000, an 
appropriation from the General Assembly, and the county 
tax. The new law revives a poll tax of one to two dollars 
levied on all men between twenty-one and fifty, and is pay- 
able in cash, not labor. Enlarged powers of taxation and 
bond issue for road building are granted the counties. 
After April 19 14, the supervisor in each town becomes 
treasurer of the Road and Bridge Fund, making that town 
office of more importance. 

Cook County has approximately 1,200 miles of country 
roads, so the county is entitled to 300 miles of State Aid 
roads. These must be principal highways, and connect 
with the State roads in adjoining counties. 

Western, Milwaukee, Archer Avenues, Halsted and 
Twelfth Streets have been designated by the county board 
as the first State Aid roads in Cook County. They will 
probably be made of concrete. 3 

This law is the first sensible attempt to " pull Illinois 

2 Roads and Bridges Act, 1913, sec. 158. 

3 There has already been planned and surveyed a great transcon- 
tinental highway of concrete running from New York to San Francisco, 
to cost approximately $75,000,000. The cement companies of the 
United States have offered to furnish the cement for this highway at 
a cost to the companies of $10,000,000. This Lincoln Memorial highway 
will run along the south boundary of Cook County and pass through 
Joliet and Dekalb. 



ILLINOIS MOVING FORWARD 205 

out of the mud/' and is full of promise for the future. 
Farm property will be immensely benefited by these new 
State Aid roads, and indirectly, the cities and villages will 
profit by better transportation for all farm products. 4 

Public Utilities Commission. Two bills concerning 
public service companies and corporations were made law 
by the Legislature of 1913. A bi-partisan public utilities 
commission of five members to be appointed by the governor 
for six years was created. The salary is large — $10,000 
— and each commissioner must devote his entire time to 
the duties of his office and hold no other office nor engage 
in any other business. 

All public utility corporations must supply the commis- 
sion with any information required, and their books can be 
inspected at all times. The law says : " All rates and 
other charges made by any public utility shall be just and 
reasonable. " Every unjust or unreasonable charge made 
is declared unlawful and prohibited. If the language of 
the law means what the words usually mean, then the public 
utilities commission can absolutely regulate the price of 
gas, electric light, ice, and water; railroad, express, tele- 
graph, and telephone rates ; warehouse and storage charges, 
and the price paid for oil throughout Illinois. Certainly 
this is tremendous power to place in the hands of five men, 
and the entire value of the law rests in the type of men 
the governor appoints. There is provision for an appeal 
from any ruling of the commission to the circuit court of 

4 See synopsis of the State i\id Good Roads Law prepared by the 
Roads and Bridges committee of the Cook County Board. Also Re- 
vised Roads and Bridges x\ct, in effect July I, 1913. Secure this act 
from secretary of State, Springfield, or from your county board. Get 
a road map of your county from the county board and notice the State 
Aid roads on it, if any in existence. 



206 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

Sangamon County and from that direct to the State su- 
preme court. The act went into effect January i, 19 14. 

The greatest objection to the law comes from Chicago, 
because there is no clause allowing " home rule " for that 
city, or control of its own great public-service companies. 
Chicago, through its mayor and council, has unitedly pro- 
tested against such a great increase in the power of the 
State at the expense of the cities. Some control and regu- 
lation of public utilities is greatly needed, and if the law 
is firmly, impartially, and wisely administered, both the 
public-service companies and the people at large will bene- 
fit equally. 

Municipal Ownership of Public Utilities. The sec- 
ond law is : " An act to authorize cities to acquire, con- 
struct, own, and to lease or operate public utilities and to 
provide the means therefor." (Session Laws, 1913, pp. 
455-459.) This act, in force July 1, 1913, gives the cities, 
villages, and towns of Illinois the right of municipal owner- 
ship, operation or lease of their street car, telegraph, tele- 
phone lines; water, gas, electric light, cold storage, and 
power plants of every kind; public warehouses, storage 
places, docks, and to fix the rates and charges for the serv- 
ices rendered by such public utilities. 

How must a city proceed under the act if it wishes to 
construct and operate a street-car line ? First an ordinance 
must be passed by the council providing for municipal con- 
struction and ownership of such street-car line and provid- 
ing for a bond issue in payment of same, the bonds to run 
not longer than twenty years. This ordinance must be 
approved by a referendum vote, and the city may then pro- 
ceed to build and operate the new municipal car line. If 
a car line was already in existence, and the franchise about 



ILLINOIS MOVING FORWARD 207 

to expire, the city could proceed under the new powers to 
buy the privately owned car line, repair, and run it. The 
same is true of a gas, electric light, or ice plant, a ware- 
house, or telephone line. If the private company will not 
sell its property at a fair price, then the city may condemn 
it under the right of eminent domain. Instead of issuing 
bonds, a new method is provided in the act to pay for such 
municipally owned utilities. If authorized by the voters, 
the council may issue " public utility certificates/' to be paid 
for out of the profits of the utility. This plan has the ad- 
vantage of making the plant pay for itself. The utility 
may be mortgaged as security for the redemption of these 
certificates, and there is danger of foreclosure of this mort- 
gage by which a private corporation could easily get pos- 
session of a plant built by the city, run it for twenty years, 
and reap all the financial rewards of the experiment. This 
possibility ought to make the citizens in any community 
keenly alive to the necessity of an honest, efficient, city 
government and a strictly enforced civil-service law for all 
city employees before they attempt municipal ownership of 
their public utilities. The act gives broader powers to 
Illinois municipalities than any recent law. 

Municipal Coliseum Law. The Legislature has con- 
ferred the right on cities and villages under 500,000 popu- 
lation to levy a tax of three mills to build and one mill on 
the dollar to maintain a public coliseum for purposes of as- 
sembly and recreation. There must first be a favorable 
referendum vote to build such a coliseum. The mayor, or 
the president of the village, appoints three directors to 
serve without pay for three years to have entire control 
of the use of the coliseum as well as to build and equip 
it. Bonds running thirty years may be sold to pay for the 



208 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

building and payment secured by a mortgage on it. Every 
public municipal coliseum so erected is for the " free use 
and benefit of the people for lectures, concerts, public as- 
semblies, and all other educational purposes, and for free 
amusements and entertainments," subject only to the rules 
and regulations laid down by the three directors. The 
coliseum is to be used " for the greatest benefit to the great- 
est number/' according to the terms of this very progress- 
ive law. In small rural communities a suitable place for 
public gatherings is hard to find. Usually the church or 
schoolhouse is the only available place, and neither build- 
ing is large enough or central enough to serve community 
needs. A public municipal coliseum would be a genuine 
community and social center and fill a real community need. 
No city or village need build such a coliseum unless it wants 
to, for the law provides absolute "home rule" in the mat- 
ter. (Session Laws, 1913, pp. 142-145.) 

Legislative Reference Bureau. Several States, par- 
ticularly Wisconsin and Massachusetts, have established 
such a bureau, and the members of their State Legislatures 
have found it a great service in drafting bills and voting 
intelligently on bills introduced. Illinois has joined this 
group of " forward looking " States, and provided by law 
for such a reference bureau. The duty of this bureau is 
to " collect, catalogue, and index laws, periodicals, docu- 
ments, and digests " from other States and arrange this 
valuable material in the most convenient form for the use 
of members of the Legislature. 

The reference bureau is composed of the governor, who 
is ex-officio chairman, and the chairman of the committees 
on judiciary in the Senate and the House. This commit- 
tee of three appoints a paid secretary who gives his entire 



ILLINOIS MOVING FORWARD 209 

lme to the work of the bureau and keeps it open the year 
ound, Sundays and legal holidays excepted. (Session 
.aws, 1913, pp. 391-392.) 

Workmen's Compensation Act. " A business that 
ioes not care for its own waste is a parasite." The ap- 
lalling number of deaths and accidents to working men, 
\'omen, and children in industries led Dr. C. R. Henderson 

make the statement quoted. 

The present workmen's compensation act is not compul- 
ory. An employer may voluntarily accept its provisions, 
>r he may serve notice that he will not be bound by its 
erms. But if he fails to file such notice, he is obliged to 
ome under the act. An Industrial Board of three mem- 
ers, appointed by the governor for six years, is created 
d enforce the act. This board is composed of an em- 
loyer, an employee, and a " representative citizen," who is 
either, and the board must be bi-partisan. 

The amount allowed for the death of a workman incurred 

1 the industry is not less than $1,500 nor more than $3,500. 
.esser amounts are paid for injuries received. In case of 
ermanent disability, a small life pension, payable monthly, 
3 provided. Any employer can withdraw from the com- 
ensation plan by giving notice to the Industrial Board and 
is own workmen; but such withdrawal does not affect the 
ensions for which he is already liable. The workmen em- 
loyed by the State, county, and local governments are also 
rotected by the law r . This act marks a cautious begin- 
ing in Illinois toward making industry " carry its own 
raste." 

Mothers' Pension Fund. This new law takes the 
lace of the carelessly drawn law of 191 1 and provides a 
ension of $15 a month for a mother with one child under 



210 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

fourteen years old and $10 per month for each additional 
child under fourteen, provided no relief is granted for any 
one mother to exceed $50 per month. The mother must 
be a citizen of the United States and a resident for three 
years of the county where such relief is sought. If the 
father is living, but permanently unable to support his 
family, upon recommendation of the probation officer in- 
vestigating the case, the mother and children may still ob- 
tain the pension. Relief ceases whenever a child becomes 
fourteen, unless that child is sick or has become crippled, 
when the pension may be continued until the said child is 
sixteen. 

This pension is paid through the office of the county 
agent. The county board levies a tax of three-tenths of 
one mill on the dollar annually on all taxable property in 
the county, to be known as the mothers' pension fund. 
The judge of the juvenile court, or the county judge in 
counties having no juvenile court, is charged with the ad- 
ministration of the law, and there are special probation 
officers for the investigation of every applicant for the 
fund. (See Juvenile Court in Cook County, pp. 78-79, for 
working of this new pension act in that county.) 

Illinois Park Commission. Illinois is one of the pio- 
neer States in the Mississippi Valley to create a State park. 
The Illinois Park Commission, of three members, serving 
without pay, was appointed by the governor in 191 1 to 
acquire sites noted for their history or natural beauty and 
maintain the same as State parks. " The historic spot 
where the great tribe of the Illini Indians is said to have 
made their last stand, and the site of the French fort of 
Saint Louis," have been purchased, and the twelve hundred 
acres are now known as Starved Rock State Park. This 



ILLINOIS MOVING FORWARD 211 

beautiful park lies on the Illinois River in LaSalle County. 
The increasing number of people using the park shows how 
great the need of State-owned parks is. Cottages and 
camping grounds are being provided and every effort made 
by the Park Commission for the freest possible use of this 
great out-door playground. 5 

Child Labor Law. Illinois had an apology for such a 
law over twenty years ago; but the law passed in 1903 is 
the one of which the people are proud, and justly, because 
it is counted one of the best child labor laws in the country. 
No child under fourteen is allowed to work in any place 
where liquor is sold, and there is a long list of prohibited 
occupations, for which see Revised Statutes, 191 2, chapter 
xlviii, sections 20-20a. All children come under the com- 
pulsory school law until fourteen years old. At that time 
age and school certificates are required from parents and the 
school superintendent. Between fourteen and sixteen all 
hazardous occupations are forbidden and every such child 
employed in permitted occupations must be registered by a 
wall list giving name, age, and residence, which is posted in 
the establishment where he is employed. The child's work- 
ing day is eight hours and must lie between seven a. m. and 
six p. m. The State factory inspector and his deputies are 
charged with enforcing the child labor law and a certain 
proportion of the deputy inspectors must be women, be- 
cause they are keener in protecting the rights of the child. 
Every child must be able to read simple sentences and write 
legibly before a work certificate is granted. A fine is im- 
posed for each violation of the child labor law. Illinois 
protects the children in part until they are sixteen. After 

5 Report Illinois Park Commission, 1912, is a very interesting docu- 
ment and will repay careful reading. 



212 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

that they are adults in the legal sense and must take their 
chances. Is it wise ? Can you give any reasons for favor- 
ing a longer period for preparation for life occupation? 

The Local Option Law. Since 1907 Illinois has had 
a " local option " law allowing any city, village, town, pre- 
cinct, or township to become anti-saloon territory by popu- 
lar vote and remain " dry " for eighteen months, when the 
question may be resubmitted on petition of a small number 
of voters. Under the terms of this act, over half the State of 
Illinois is " dry " territory. But the permission to reopen 
the question every eighteen months keeps the battle between 
the " personal liberty " advocates and the anti-saloon people 
always to the front. A decision of the State supreme court 
declared this local option law constitutional. " This in- 
sures the permanence of township local option in Illinois/' 
The county local option law, unfortunately, was repealed 
in 191 3 — another evidence of the constant warfare be- 
tween the liquor interests and the temperance sentiments 
of the people. The last Legislature (1913) passed a new 
" dram-shop law " prohibiting the sale of liquor within four 
miles of the State University; but the residence district 
bill to keep saloons out of such districts of homes, was de- 
feated through the influence of the United Societies, the 
powerful liquor organization in the State. Illinois needs 
to join the educational campaign being carried on in Massa- 
chusetts to teach the economic and civic waste caused by 
alcohol. The first municipal poster on this subject is 
recommended for thoughtful consideration. This poster 
has been placed in every park, fire and police station in 
Cambridge, Mass., by order of the mayor and council. 

Most of the laws described in this chapter were passed by 
the last Legislature and prove that Illinois is genuinely 



ALCOHOL! 



THE PUBLIC THINKS:-* 

It is only Heavy Drinking that harms. 

EXPERIMENTS SHOW:- . 

That even Moderate Drinking Hurts Health, Lessens Efficiency. 
THE PUBLIC THINKS: — 

. Alcohol braces us for hard work and Against fatigue. 
EXPERIMENTS SHOW:— 

That ALCOHOL IN NO WAY INCREASES MUSCULAR 
STRENGTH OR ENDURANCE. 

ALCOHOL LOWERS VITALITY; ALCOHOL 
OPENS THE DOOR TO DISEASE 

Resolved, at the International Congress on Tuberculosis, 1905, to combine- 
the Fight Against Alcohol with the Struggle Against Tuberculosis. 

At the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, the use of Alcohol as a 
jnedicine declined 77 per cent, in eight years. 

Most Modern Hospitals show the same tendency. 

Alcohol is Responsible for Much of Our Insanity, Much of Our Poverty, Much 
of Our Crime. OUR PRISON COMMISSIONERS REPORTED THAT 
95% OF THOSE WHO WENT TO PRISON IN X9U HAD INTEM- 
PERATE HABITS. 

YET THE PUBLIC SAYS:— We need the Revenue from Liquor 

THE PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW, — HOW SMALL IS THE REVENUE com- 
pared with the Costs of Carrying the Wreckage. 

YOUR MONEY" SUPPORTS THIS WRECKAGE. 

YOUR WILL ALLOWS IT. 

YOUR INDIFFERENCE ENDANGERS YOUR NATION. 

Commercialized Vice is Promoted through Alcohol. 

CITIZENS, THINK! 

ARRAYED AGAINST ALCOHOL arc ECONOMY, SCIENCE. EFFICIENCY. HEALTH, MORALITY. 

••The Very Assets of a Nation. 
— • The Very Soul of a People. 

TBZMS! 



Used by Courtesy of The Survey, August 9, 1913 



First Municipal Poster against Alcoholism in the United States. 

Placed by authority of the mayor and park commissioners 

of Cambridge, Mass., in all parks and public buildings. 



214 ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS 

" moving forward " along the highway of progress. If 
Illinois will throw aside her outgrown State constitution 
and adopt one better suited to the needs of the twentieth- 
century the centennial birthday of the State, so near at 
hand, will witness wonderful progress in effective govern- 
ment 



APPENDIX A 

Reference List of Books and Pamphlets valuable for study of 
Actual Government in Illinois. 



I 

2 

3 

4 
5 

6 

7 
8 

9 

10, 

ii 

12 

13 
14 

15 
16 



Beard, C. A. American City Government. Century Co. 

1912. 
Boynton and Upton. School Civics with Civics of Illinois. 

Ginn & Co. 1910. 
Campbell, W. H. Illinois History Stories. Applet on. 19 10. 
Currey, J. S. History of Chicago. S. J. Clarke Co. 1912. 
Debaters' Handbook Series. H. W. Wilson Co., Minneapo- 
lis. 1909. 
Eastman, F. A. Chicago City Manual for 19 12. Bureau of 

Statistics. Room 1005, City Hall. 
Fairlie, J. A. County and Town Government in Illinois. 

Annals American Academy, May, 1913. 
Fairlie, J. A. Report on the Taxation and Revenue System 

of Illinois. 1910. Illinois State Journal Co., Springfield. 
Fairlie, J. A. Report of Joint Legislation Committee of 47th 

General Assembly. 1913. 
Forman, S. E. The American Republic. Century Co. 1912. 
Forman, S. E. Advanced Civics. Century Co. 1905. 
Forman, S. E. Essentials in Civil Government. Illinois 

Edition. American Book Co. 1909. 
Garner, J. W. Government in the United States. Illinois 

Edition. American Book Co. 191 1. 
Greene, E. B. The Government of Illinois. Macmillan Co. 

1904. 
Guitteau, W. B. Government and Politics in United States. 

Houghton Mifflin Co. 191 1. 
Hurd, H. B. Revised Statutes of Illinois. Chicago Legal 

News Co. 1912. 

215 



216 APPENDIX A - 

17. James and Sanford. Government in State and Nation. 

Scribners. 1912. 

18. James and Sanford. Our Government: Local, State and 

National. Illinois Edition. Scribners. 1903. 

19. Judson, Harry Pratt. Government of Illinois. Maynard 

Co. 1900. 

20. Mather, Irving F. The Making of Illinois. A. Flanagan. 

1900. 

21. McCleary, J. T. Studies in Civics. American Book Co. 

1897. 

22. Moody, W. D. W acker's Manual of the Plan of Chicago. 

Chicago Plan Commission. 1912. 

23. Ostrogorski, M. Democracy and the Party System. Mac- 

millan Co. 1911. 

24. Smith, G. W. Students' History of Illinois. Published at 

Carbondale, Illinois. 1907. 

25. Session Laws of Illinois for 1913. Chicago Legal News Co. 

26. Thomas, R. W. A Manual of Debate. American Book Co. 

1910. 

27. Winchell, S. R. A Civic Manual. A. Flanagan. 1910. 

28. Wilcox, D. F. Great Cities of America. (Chap. IV — Chi- 

cago.) Macmillan Co. 1910. 



APPENDIX B 

Valuable Publications of Civic Organizations in Chicago. 

I. Chicago Association of Commerce. Reports and a weekly 

paper Commerce. 
II. Chicago Bureau of. Public Efficiency, 315 Plymouth Court, 
Harris S. Keeler, Director. 

1. Park Government in Illinois. Dec. 191 1. 

2. Growing Cost of Elections in Chicago and Cook 

County. Dec. 1912. 

3. The Voting Machine Contract. Jan. 1913. 

4. The County Treasurer s Office. Nov. 19 13. 

5. Local Governments of Chicago and Cook County. 

Dec. 1913. 

III. Chicago School of Civics. 116 So. Michigan Ave. Ex- 

tension Department. Civic Exhibits. Edward L. 
Burchard, Director. 
What the Old World Has to Teach the New. 

Municipal Department. Dr. Howard Woodhead, 

Director. 

Valuable information through correspondence. 

IV. City Club. 315 Plymouth Court. George E. Hooker, 

Secretary. 
Bulletins. 
V. Illinois Equal Suffrage Association. Fine Arts Building. 

1. A. B. C. of Woman's Suffrage in Illinois. 

2. Illinois Laws Concerning Women. 

3. Woman Suffrage Law of Illinois. July, 19 13. 
All by Catharine Waugh McCulloch. 

VI. Legislative Voters' League of Illinois. 400 Odd Fellows 
Building, Springfield. 
Bulletins during sessions legislature. 
217 



218 APPENDIX B 

VII. Municipal Voters' League. Monadnock Building, Chicago. 

Annual Reports on the Chicago Aldermen. 
VIII. Woman's City Club. 116 So. Michigan Ave. Amelia 
Sears, Director. 

1. A Suggested Solution of the Garbage Question. 

2. Catechism for Women Voters in Illinois. Nov. 

I9I3- 

3. Handbook for the Women Voters of Illinois. Dec. 

1913. 

4. Madam, Who Keeps Your House? 

5. Mothering a Municipality. 

6. The Larger Housekeeping. 



INDEX 



" After-supper " classes, 44. 

Aldermen, salary, 6 ; term, 6. See 
Chicago and City Council. 

Amendment Illinois constitution, 
198-200, 202, 203. 

American City Government, quot- 
ed, 4, 43- 

Assessor, county, 90, 91 ; town, 58, 
9i, 92, 93. 

Assessment property, 90-93. 

Attorney, city, 13. 

Attorney general, 157. 

Auditor of public accounts, 157. 

Australian ballot. See ballot. 

Backyard proverbs, 34, 35. 
Ballot, description of, 104-105 ; 

"little," 108; marking, 105-106; 

need of shorter, no; specimen, 

104, 105. 
Bartelme, Miss Mary E., 78. 
Beaconsfield, Lord, quoted, 29. 
Beard, Chas. A., quoted, 3-4, 43. 
Bills, 145-148; enacting clause, 

147. 

Blind, care for, 194. 

Board of, assessors, 90, 91, 182; 
education, 42, 169-170; equaliza- 
tion, 88; local improvements, 24, 
26; prison industries, 118-119; 
registry, 101-102 ; review, 92, 93 ; 
school directors, 171 ; visitors, 
191. 

Bryce, quoted, 14. 

Bureau of hospitals, baths, lodg- 
ing-house, 32; legislative refer- 
ence, 208; vagrancy, 39; vital 
statistics, 29-32; vocational su- 
pervision, 44, 45. 



Cairo, 7, 56, 161. 
Camera squad, 14. 



Capital punishment, 118. 

Catherwood, Robert, quoted, 180- 
181; 181-183, 184. 

Change of venue, 59. 

Character — investigation depart- 
ment, 178-179. 

Charity service of Cook County, 
83-86. 

Chart, Government of Chicago, 
25 ; Government of Cook 
County, 87. • 

Chester, penitentiary at, 118. 

Chicago, aldermen of, 18, 19; 
board of local improvements, 
24, 26; Bridewell, 27; budget, 
20; business agent, 24; city 
clerk, 23, 24; city collector, 23, 
26 y City Hall, 52, 68; city phy- 
sician, 32; city treasurer, 24; 
civil-service commission, 23, 177- 
179; civic creed, 16; comptrol- 
ler, 26; commissioner public 
works, 26, 27; Council, 18-20; 
custodian lost property, 41-42; 
dead animals removed in, 32- 
33; early history of, 16, 17; fire 
department, 36-37; garbage, 26, 
50; health department, 29-32; 
"home rule" for, 206; house of 
correction, 27; law department, 
24; mayor, term, 20, powers of, 
18, 20, 22, 23, salary, 20; mean- 
ing of, 17; parks, 46-49; police 
department, 38-41 ; population, 
l 7> 7o; problems of, 49^50; pub- 
lic library, 45-46; sanitary dis- 
trict, 50-53 ; school system, 42- 
45 ; school lands, 42, 43, 166. 

Chicago Bureau of Public Ef- 
ficiency, 16, 23, 25, 46, 47, 51, 
69, 74, 87, no, 112. 

Chicago City Manual, 16, 41. 



219 



220 



INDEX 



Chicago Fire, 37, 134, 136. 
Chicago Historical Society, 16. 
Chicago's Pocketbook, 21. 
Chicago Railways Company, 42. 
Chicago State Hospital, 192. 
Chief of police, 6, 12, 38. 
Child Labor Law, 211-212. 
Cities, officers of, 5 ; organization 

of, 5 and Villages Act, 4, 5, 10, 

18; City civil service, 177-179; 

City courts, 8 {See Municipal 

Courts). 
City, attorney, 13 ; council, 6, 10, 

18; government, outline of, 9- 

13 ; manager, 7, 8. 
Civil-service commission, 6, 12, 

176, 179-180; Chicago, 177-179; 

Cook County, 179, 184. 
Civil service, history of move- 
ment, 176-177; law, 52, 196, 207; 

meaning of, 176. 
Clerk, city, 10-11; county, 73, 75, 

92, 94, 95 ; of elections, 102, 105, 

107; town, 58. 
Clerks of the courts, 77. 
Cleveland, Grover, quoted, 175. 
Coles, Gov. Edward, 135. 
Collector, city, 6, 11, 90; county, 

73-74, 95, 96; town, 58, 95. 
Comerford, Frank D., 140-141. 
Commissioner public works, 6, 11, 

26, 27; health, 6, 12. 
Commission plan city government, 

6. 
Committee men, 104. 
Common law, 160. 
Comptroller, 6, 11, 26, 73. 
Compulsory school law, 172, 211. 
Congressional townships, 54, 61, 

169. 
Constable, 59; Differences police- 
man and, 60. 
Constitution of 1870, Illinois 

quoted, 147, 151, 159, 165. 
Constitutional convention, 198, 200. 
Convergence of meridians, 62, 63. 
Convict labor, 120. 
Cook County, area, 68; board, 66, 

70-71; board of visitors, 86; 

budget, 72; charity service, 83- 

86; clerk, 73, 94, 95; comptrol- 



ler, 73; coroner, 74-75; court- 
house, 68; government of, 70- 
76; hospital, 83; infirmary, 58, 
83; judge, 80, 85, 101 ; juvenile 
court, 77-7&\ Juvenile Detention 
Home, 78; population, 68; presi- 
dent county board, 70, 71-72; re- 
corder, 75; sheriff", 72, 73, 74; 
State Aid roads in, 204; State's 
attorney, 75-76; State courts in, 
76-79 ; superintendent of schools, 
75, 166, 168-169; surveyor, 75; 
treasurer, 73, 74, 91, 92. 

Cook, Daniel P., 68, 136. 

Corporations, taxation of, 88; 
public utility, 205, 206. 

Cost of elections, in. 

County, agent, 84, 181 ; assessor, 
90, 91 ; boards, 66, 203 ; com- 
missioners, 66-67 1 government, 
faults of, 66-67. 

Counties, area, 65 ; population, 65 ; 
work of, 65. 
Courts. See Judges. 

Currey, J. S., 16, 17, 61, 63, 
quoted, 131-132. 

Cutting, Charles S., 121. 



Dead animals removed, 32-33. 
Delinquent taxes, 95, 96. 
Deneen, Chas. S., 103, 152. 
Detective bureau, 40. 
Detention hospital, Cook Co., 80, 

83-84. 

Diagrams, Chicago's Pocketbook, 
21 ; Chicago Public Safety de- 
partments, 34; Courts of Illi- 
nois, 160; Our System of Law, 
159; Township with Sections 
numbered, 62 ; Subdivisions of a 
Section, 62. 

Director public safety, 8. 

Dog-pound master, 39. 

Doolittle, Hon. J. R., quoted, 132. 

Drake, Dr. C. St. Clair, . photo- 
plays by, 33; quoted, 35-36; 
model, " Breathing Dolls," 35. 

Dram-shop law, 212. 

Dr. Killjoy Was Right, 33. 

Dunne, Gov., quoted, 37, 156. 



INDEX 



221 



Education, board of, 42, 169-170. 
Election districts, 99, 100; in Cook 

Co., 138-139; officers, 101. 
Election commissioners, 101. 
Elections in Cook Co., 105 ; cost 

of, III. 
Eminent domain, right of, 170, 

207. 
Equalization, board of, 88>. 
Equity, 161. 

Error of Omission, s 2 , 33- 
Evans, Dr., quoted, 29. 
Evanston, assessment, 98; city of, 

98, 177; director public safety, 

8; school districts in, 62; town 

elections in, 56. 
Executive, state, 151-157; named, 

151. 

Exempt from execution, property, 
116; from taxation, 89. 

Fairlie, J. A., quoted, 56, 94. 
Federal civil service, 176-177. 
Fee offices Cook Co., 181. 
Finance committee, 19. 
Fire-prevention day, S7- 
Fire marshal, 6, 12, 36. 
Fitch, Geo., state rep., 146. 
Foreign-born in Chicago, 49. 
Forman, American Republic, 29, 

50, 54, 65, 74. 
Fort Dearborn, 16, 130-131. 
Fresh-air crusade, 35-36. 
Funds to parents, 78. 

Garbage, Chicago, 26, 50; See Ap- 
pendix B. 

Garfield, Pres., 176. 

Garner, J. W., Government in 
United States, 3, 88, 138, 151 ; 
quoted, 109. 

General Assembly, 138-150; ap- 
portionment of members, 13&- 
139; committees, 143-144; com- 
parison, congress and, 49-50; 
disqualification of members, 
140-14 1 ; employees, 142-143; 
organization, 141-142; qualifica- 
tion of members, 140; rules of 
procedure, 144; salary, senators 
and representatives, 141 ; ses- 



sions, 143; speaker, 141, 142, 
143, 152; work of, 144-145. 

Governor, 152-155 ; appointing 
power, 152-153, 196; pardoning 
power, 154; veto power, 147- 
148. 

Grand jury, 116, 117, 122. 

Greene, E. B., 3, 9, 65, 88, 151, 
165, 188 {Government of Illi- 
nois), quoted, 194. 

Guitteau, W. B., quoted, 159. 

Health commissioner, 6, 12. 

Health dep't, Chicago, 29-32; or- 
ganization, 29-32. 

Henderson, Dr. C. W., quoted, 
209. 

Higher education in state, 167- 
168. 

Highway commission, 58, 203. 

Hospitals, bureau of, 32. 

House of Correc ion, Chicago, 23. 

How a bill becomes a law, 145- 
148. 

Hyde, H. M., quoted, 39. 

Illinois, state of, 126; admitted to 
union, 131; area, 126; capitals, 
134; charity law, 188-189; coal 
in, 128; constitutions, 132-134; 
constitution amendments, 198- 
200, 202, 203; forests in, 127; 
history, 129-137; Indians, 128; 
latitude of, 126; map of con- 
gressional districts, 133 ; mean- 
ing of, 128; northern boundary, 
131-132; physical features, 126; 
slavery, 135 ; under territorial 
government, 130; surface of, 
127 ; waterways, 127. 

Illinois and Michigan canal, 135. 

Illinois moving forward, 201-214. 

Illinois park commission, 210-21 1. 

Illustrative material, 13, 14, 19, 23, 
88; A Taxpayers Calendar, 97, 
98. 

Indeterminate sentence, 118. 

Infirmary, 83, 195. See Oak For- 
est. 

Initiative, 108, 109. 

Inspection, food, 29; sanitary, 29. 



222 



INDEX 



Inspectors of moral conditions, 40. 
Institution Quarterly, 188. 

James and Sanford, 63, 113; 
quoted, 120-121. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 61, 177. 

Joliet, city of, 56; penitentiary at, 
1 18-120; township of, 55. 

Judicial trials, 113-118; civil, 113- 
116; criminal, 116-118. 

Judiciary, state, 159-164. 

Judges, appellate, 100, 163 ; cir- 
cuit, y6, yy, 99, 163, 164; county, 
80, 85, 101 ; criminal court, yy ; 
juvenile court, yy-yS; municipal 
court, 2y, 28; probate court, 80- 
82 ; superior, y6 ; supreme, 162- 
163. 

Judges of election, 101, 102. 

Judson, Harry Pratt, Government 
of Illinois, 63. 

June Law, 97. 

Juries, 114, 115; differences grand 
and petit, 122. 

Jurisdiction of a court, 161-162. 

Jurors, women, 80. 

Jury commissioners, 82. 

Justice of the peace, 8, 59, 114, 
124. 

Juvenile court, report for 1912, 
79-8o. 

Juvenile Detention Home, 78, 84. 

Krutckoff, Chas., head clerk with 
Cook Co. board of assessors, 88. 

Laboratory service, 30. 

Lawyers, 162. 

Legislative reference bureau, 208- 

209. 
Legislative Voters' League, 146, 

148-149, 187. 
Legislature of Illinois, 138-150. 

See General Assembly. 
Lewis, Hon. J. Hamilton, 141. 
Library, Chicago public, 45-46. 
Library directors, 12, 22, 46. 
Licenses, 11, 24. 
Lieutenant-governor, 141, 151, 

156. 
Lincoln, Abraham, .134. 



Lincoln Memorial highway, 204. 

Lincoln Park, 46, 48. 

Lindsey, Judge Ben, yy. 

Little ballot, 108. 

Lobbying, 147. 

Local governments in Illinois, 65. 

Local improvements, board of, 24, 

26. 
Local Option Law, 212. 
Log-rolling, 147. 
Long Nine, 134. 
Lovejoy press riots, 135. 

McCormick, A. A., pres. Cook Co. 
board, 71, y2, 179. 

McCleary, J. T., 113, see Appendix 
B. 

McCulloch, Catharine Waugh, 59; 
quoted, 201-203. 

McKinley, Wm, speaker, 141. 

" Madam, Who Keeps Your 
House? " 4. 

Maps, Cook Co., showing town- 
ships, 69; Illinois, showing con- 
gressional districts, 133 ; Park 
districts of Chicago, 47; Sani- 
tary district, 51. 

Mayor, powers of, 6, 10. See Chi- 
cago. 

Mental hygiene, rules of, 193. 

Merit system, 175-187; in city, 
177-179; in Cook Co., 179-184; 
in Illinois, 184-187. 

Minority representation, 139-140. 

Mothers' pension fund, 209, 210. 

Moving-picture bureau, 40; thea- 
ters and films, 33, 4°- 

Municipal Coliseum Law, 207-208; 
courts, 2y, 28, 161 ; ownership 
public utilities, 206-207 ; recrea- 
tion, 46-49; Tuberculosis Sani- 
tarium, 22, 34. 

Newell, M. H., article by, 54. 
Nicholes, Anna E., 71, 83, 179, 

184. 
Non-township counties, 60, 66, 91, 

100, 195. 

Oak Forest, infirmary at, 83. 



INDEX 



223 



Ordinance of 1787, 130; quoted, 

165. 
Outlook, The New York, article, 

Overseers of poor, 195. 

Owens, County Judge John E., 80. 

Parents' pension fund, 78, 79, 209- 
210. 

Park districts, creation of, 48. 

Penal institutions, 1 18-120. 

Pendleton Act, 176. 

Pertinent questions, 14-15, 63-64, 
81-82, 124-125, 150, 158, 173-174, 
187. 

Petit jury, 122. 

Photo-plays, 33. 

Pinckney, Judge Merritt W., 78. _ 

Policeman, see Chicago; compari- 
son with constable, 60; police 
magistrate, 13. 

Police pension fund, 40. 

Police women, 40. 

Polls, see elections and ballot. 

Poll-tax, 58, 204. 

Poor relief, 194-195. 

Pope, Judge Nathaniel, 131-132. 

Poster, 4; Clean Chicago, 31; Al- 
cohol, 213. 

Presidential preference vote, 108. 

Primary elections, 103-104, 183. 

Primary Law, 103, 183. 

Prison industries, board of, 118- 
119. 

Probate court, 80. 

Probating a will, 80-82. 

Probation officers, 77 ; adult, 84- 

85. 

Problems under township survey, 

62. 
Property exempt from taxation, 

89. 
Psychopathic Institute, 192, 193. 
Public baths, 32. 
Public education, 165-173. 
Public policy Law, 109. 
Public safety, 41-42; bureau, 42; 

commission, 42; departments, 

28-34; director, 8. 
Public utilities commission, 119, 

205-206. 



Public utility certificates, 207. 
Pullman strikes, 136-137. 

Qualifications legal voter, 100, 200. 
Queen Victoria, 45. 

Referendum, 108. 

Registration, 101-102; by mail, 

102. 
Requisition papers, 155. 
Restrictions on taxing power, 96, 

97. 
Review, board of, 92-93. 
Ridgeville township, 56, 59, 70, 91, 

98. 
River Forest, 7, 8. 
Roosevelt, Theodore, quoted, 67, 

176. 
Rural directors country schools, 

75. 



Sanitary district, 50-53; elec- 
tricity generated by, 52 ; govern- 
ment of, 52; no civil service, 52- 
53 ; salary trustees, 53. 

Saturday Evening Post, quoted in 
Foreword for Teacher. 

School administration, local, 160- 
170; directors, 171; funds, per- 
manent, 166-167; township fund, 
166; houses as polling places, 
106; law, compulsory, 172; 
lands, 43 ; statistics, 43 ; taxes, 
165, 166; system of Illinois, 
summary by outline, 173; town- 
ship trustees, 170-171. 

School, John Worthy, 27. 

Schools, high, 171-172; normal, 
168; township high, 172; Little 
Mothers', 29; as social centers, 
44. 

Secretary of State, 156. 

Sections, twp., 61, 62. 

Senators, State, see General As- 
sembly; United States, election 
of, 56, 108, 141. 

Senatorial districts, 99, 138. 

Sherman, Lawrence Y., 141. 

Sheriff, 72, 7^. 

Social centers, schools as, 44. 



224 



INDEX 



Social service department county 
court, 85. 

Soldiers' Homes, 194. 

South Park board, 48, 49. 

Speaker of house, see General 
Assembly. 

Special assessments, 11, 90, 95. 

Spoils system, 176; how it works, 
181-183. 

Springfield, 135, 161, 162. 

State aid good roads law, 203, 
205; board of administration, 
189, 190, 191, 192, 196; charities 
commission, 189-190, 191 ; char- 
ity service, 188-197 ; . greatest 
need of, 195-196; care of in- 
sane, 192; colony for epileptics, 
I9 1 ? I 93 _I 94J courts in Cook 
Co., 76-80; charitable institu- 
tions, location, 196-197 ; Eye and 
Ear Infirmary, 185 ; factory in- 
spector, 211; highway depart- 
ment, 203 ; hospitals for insane, 
184-185 ; institutions for chil- 
dren, 193; militia, 154-155; 
school of St. Charles, 27, 194, 
197; supreme court, 162-163; 
superintendent public instruc- 
tion, 168; Training School for 
Girls, 194, 197; University, 167- 
168. 

Starved Rock, 129. 

Streets, city, 3, 4. 

Supervisor, town, 57, 58, 66, 195, 
204. 

Surgical Institute for crippled 

children, 190, 193, 197. 
Surplus revenue fund, 167; State, 
166-167. 

Taxation, 88-98. 

Tax warrant, 91, 92. 

Teachers' pension fund, 172-173. 

Town of Chicago, 17. 

Town, assessors, 58, 91, 92, 93; 
clerk, 58; executive officers, 57, 
58; how formed, 55; judicial of- 
ficers, 59; legislature, 56, 57; 
meaning of terms, 54-55 ; -meet- 
ing, 56, 57- 

Towns, 54-60. 



Township, survey systems, 61-63; 

high schools, 172. 
Townships in Cook County, 70. 
Traffic squad, 39. 
Treasurer, city, 11; county, 73, 74, 

91, 92; State, 156. 
Treaty of Greenville, 16. 
Trials, civil, 113-116; criminal, 

116-118. 
Tribune, The Chicago, 16, 39, 146; 

quoted, 199, 200. 
Tuberculosis, hospitals for, 84. 
Tuthill, Judge Richard A., 77. 

Unearned increment land values, 

43- 
United States courts in Illinois, 
161. 

Vagrancy, 39. 

Ventilation, division of, 30; model 

to teach, 35. 
Veto power, governor, 147-148; 

mayor, 10, 20-22 ; pres. Cook 

County board, 72. 
Village government, 8, 9; meaning 

of, 55. 
Visitors, board of, 191. 
Vital statistics, bureau of, 29-32. 
Vocational supervision, 44, 45. 
Voting, see Elections and Ballot; 

machines, 109, no. 

Wards, 5, 6; of Chicago, 18. 

Wells, David A., quoted, 113. 

West Park board, 48, 49. 

Whiting, F. V., article by, 41. 

Whitman, John L., 27. 

Woman's Auxiliary Mass. Civil 
Service Reform Ass'n, 175. 

Woman's City Club of Chicago, 
21, 43, see Appendix B. 

Woman's Suffrage Law, 201-203. 

Workmen's Compensation Act, 
209. 

Writs, seven important, 122-124; 
attachment, 124; certiorari, 123; 
habeas corpus, 122-123 ; injunc- 
tion, 123 ; mandamus, 123 ; quo 
warranto, 123; replevin, 124. 

Young, Ella Flagg, quoted, 42. 



